Community Outreach & Education

Community Outreach & Education

The Garrison Institute on Aging (GIA) provides information and services on healthy aging by collaborating with local and state businesses to foster healthy lifestyles. Our activities cover a wide range of services and research endeavors that impact both patients afflicted by diseases and their caregivers and family members.
Those include:

• Care Partner Academy: The Care Partner Workshop is designed to assist care partners in their role in meeting the needs of their loved one. Care Partners will learn how to properly care for their own health as well as care for their loved one that may be suffering form dementia and other chronic diseases. The program provides evidenced based information and support group sessions. Disease management, personal care management, dealing with behavioral issues and care partner self-care, are discussed.
This program is made possible by the Newby Family. 

• Chronic Disease Self-Management: The Chronic Disease Self-Management Workshops are proven health and wellness workshops that complement provider care for adults with ongoing health conditions. The workshops are for individuals with chronic conditions and the support person that plays an active role in the participant's health management. This workshop teaches adults strategies to empower and improve overall well-being. Self-management workshops complement clinical care and are evaluated and approved by the CDC.

• Dementia Friendly Lubbock & Dementia Live: The Dementia Friendly Lubbock Initiative is proud to help foster the development of change in the way people think and act toward those living with dementia and their caregivers. Dementia Live, created by AGE-U-CATE, is a high impact, dementia simulation experience that immerses participants into life with dementia, resulting in a deeper understanding of what it’s like to live with cognitive impairment and sensory change.

• Diabetes Self-Management Workshop: The Diabetes Self-Management Workshops are evidence based health and wellness workshops that complement provider care for adults with pre-diabetes and diabetes. This workshop teaches adults strategies to empower and improve overall well-being. Self-management workshops complement clinical care and are evaluated and approved by the CDC.

• GRILL Lab: The GIA Research Division is designed to advance knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease (AD), other forms of dementia, and aging-related health concerns. The GRILL Lab investigates psychological health in aging and illness. More specifically, we aim to improve the lives of persons with life limiting illnesses  (e.g., cancer; dementia) and their caregivers. Through our research we are aiming to provide free evidence based services in Lubbock and rural Texas.

• The Healthy Aging Lecture Series: The Healthy Aging Lecture Series has been held since 2005 and continues to be a service to the community. Local community experts share information about health, wellness, and chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, cardiovascular, as well as many other diseases. Lectures are every fourth Wednesday of the month, during the Fall and Spring.

• Healthy Lubbock: The Healthy Lubbock Initiative seeks to make Lubbock and its surrounding communities a healthier place to live by supporting and encouraging people to improve nutrition, increase physical activity and exercise regularly to promote wellness. 

• Lubbock RSVP: Lubbock RSVP is a grant funded non-profit agency that was established in 1979 and is under the umbrella of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and Senior Corps. It was established with the purpose of encouraging adults, 55 and older, to volunteer and assist the Lubbock community by using the abilities, interests and skills they have acquired throughout their life.
The program engages seniors in a wide array of community services that help non-profit and community based organizations including health, nutrition, human services, education, community and economic development and public safety. RSVP currently has 574 active volunteers serving the Lubbock community. 

• Stress Busting Program: The Stress-Busting Program (SBP) for Family Caregivers ™ is an evidence-based program that provides support to family caregivers of persons with dementia or a chronic illness. It is proven to improve the quality of life of family caregivers who are providing care to an older loved one, and help caregivers manage their stress and cope better with their lives. In the Stress-Busting Program for family caregivers, caregivers will learn about stress and its effects, practice stress management techniques, and develop problem solving skills.

Mayor's Fitness Council