The Arkansas Choices in Living Resource Center is a program of the Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance (DPSQA). 

The resource center staff attends nearly 30 public events a year to visit Arkansas’s senior citizens and share information about the center and services it can offer. Recently, the team worked at the Texarkana Senior Expo. They shared with DHS Matters how events like this help the center reach communities across the state.   

DHS MATTERS: Why is it important for the Arkansas Choices in Living Resource Center to take part in community events like the Texarkana Senior Expo?               

RESOURCE CENTER: “We’re a liaison between DHS and the senior citizens of Arkansas, particularly when it comes to explaining the resources for Medicare and Medicaid. It’s important for us to tell people that the center answers questions about long term care services and support options for seniors in Arkansas.”  

DHS MATTERS: What is the message that the Resource Center wants to get out to aging Arkansans and their family members?  

RESOURCE CENTER: “We tell people that we’re just a phone call or email away. We have counselors who are ready to help them. We want people to remember that we provide important advice and information, and help connect them to long term care services, nursing home assistance, assisted living, and other in-home, and in-community care services. Whenever we work an event, or talk to a client, those are the main things we’re ready to explain.”

DHS MATTERS: For people that don’t know about the Arkansas Choices in Living Resource Center, how do you approach that meet-and-greet?

RESOURCE CENTER: “We want these seniors to know what the Center is, who we are, and how to find us. We make sure to give them our organization name, more than once. We also tell them that we’re with DHS, and we introduce ourselves with our first names to set a neighborly tone.  It’s vital to also explain what we do in an easy to understand way. It makes the seniors feel more comfortable with contacting us or even sharing their concerns at that very moment.”