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Santa Cruz County Introduces New Web Site Serving Seniors, the Disabled, Service Providers and Caregivers

July 29, 2002
Network of Care

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Santa Cruz County today introduced a breakthrough solution for the elderly, people with disabilities, caregivers and service providers called Network of Care, a multilingual, community-based Web site that provides comprehensive long-term care services, information and education that is significant to all the seniors and persons with disabilities who live in our county.

Sponsored by a Long-Term Care Innovation Grant from the California Department of Aging, Network of Care (santacruz.networkofcare.org) is a pilot program for California and the nation. To empower seniors and their caregivers, Network of Care helps people find the right service at the right time, educate themselves about their issues, find assistive devices, understand current policy initiatives and advocate directly to elected officials, and help them manage their affairs, interactions, and important records. The end goal is to help the community age with dignity.

“My staff and I are very proud to offer this community-based service,” said Rama Khalsa, administrator of the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency. “I’m excited about the development of this important new service for our seniors and disabled.”

The Network of Care Web site provides a comprehensive directory of the approximately 200 service providers in Santa Cruz County, putting people in touch with the right services at the right time. Network of Care also provides easy-to-search databases and vital information about diseases, situations and caregiving, as well as daily news articles from around the world concerning aging and disabilities.

To increase accessibility and accommodate Network of Care’s users, the site’s innovative technology provides near universal access, regardless of literacy or income level, to Web-based services through a text-only version of the site and other adaptive technologies, including large print sizes. The site is fully ADA-compliant and Bobby-approved. Network of Care is available in several languages – including English, Spanish and Russian – with more languages to be added in the near future.

Service providers can share challenges and ideas, as well as create powerful new mechanisms to better serve seniors, by embracing Network of Care’s communication tools such as message boards and chat rooms. Service providers can even build their own free Web sites in the For Providers section.

Trilogy Integrated Resources LLC of San Rafael, Calif., created, developed and maintains Network of Care Web sites. Trilogy, the leading information provider in the field of aging and disabilities, now serves about one-third of the State of California via Network of Care, including some of its largest and smallest counties. For more information, please contact Trilogy at 415-458-5900 or at info@networkofcare.com.