Senior Services in Pocatello and Bannock County: Who to Call for What

Verified August 2026. Programs change and phone numbers move. If you find something out of date here, please tell me and I'll fix it.

There is more help available in this valley than most families realize. The problem isn't that the services don't exist. It's that you generally have to already know the name of the program to find it, which is a strange requirement to place on someone at the worst week of their year.

So here's the list, organized by what you actually need.

If you only make one call

Area Agency on Aging serving Bannock County 208-542-8179

Idaho reorganized its Area Agencies on Aging effective July 1, 2026. Services for Bannock County are now delivered by AAA East, administered through Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership. The former Southeast Idaho office in Pocatello may still answer at 208-233-4032, and either number should be able to point you to the right place.

This is the front door. They serve adults 60 and over, and vulnerable adults 18 and over.

Ask for Information and Assistance. Describe the situation in plain language and let them tell you which programs apply. They handle home-delivered meals, homemaker and chore services, respite for family caregivers, care management, Medicare outreach, Adult Protective Services, and the long-term care ombudsman. One call reaches all of it.

Idaho CareLine, dial 2-1-1 Statewide referral line for food, housing, utilities, health, and crisis services. Broader than aging services, and useful when you're not sure what category the problem falls into.

Meals and food

Senior Activity Center, Pocatello 427 N. 6th Ave., Pocatello 208-233-1212 Lunch is served weekday middays. Open to anyone 60 and over. Membership isn't required, and a donation is suggested rather than a price charged.

Worth saying plainly: this is not only about the food. The center runs cards, exercise, and activities, and for a lot of people the meal is the reason to leave the house and the company is the actual benefit. If someone in your family has stopped eating well and stopped seeing people, this address addresses both at once.

Home-delivered meals are arranged through the Area Agency on Aging. There's an eligibility process, so call and ask rather than assuming.

SNAP and food assistance, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, 1-877-456-1233. A meaningful number of older adults who qualify for SNAP never apply, often because they assume it isn't meant for them.

Getting around

Pocatello Regional Transit 208-234-2287

PRT runs fixed-route buses across Pocatello and Chubbuck, and door-to-door paratransit for people 60 and over as well as ADA-qualified riders who can't independently use the fixed routes.

Their senior program covers life-sustaining trips, meaning medical appointments, shopping and banking, and also quality-of-life trips: social visits, community outings, seeing family. I appreciate that they say so out loud. Not every transit program will take you to see a grandchild.

Ride reservations need to be made in advance. Ask about travel training if a parent is nervous about starting.

Medicaid medical transportation for people on full Medicaid is arranged through Idaho's transportation broker. Ask your Medicaid caseworker for the current number.

If what you need is someone who goes in with you and waits, that's what I do, and it's a different thing from a bus.

Medicare and insurance questions

SHIBA, Senior Health Insurance Benefits Advisors Idaho Department of Insurance 1-800-247-4422

Free, unbiased Medicare counseling from certified counselors. They don't sell insurance, don't recommend companies, and don't work on commission, which makes them meaningfully different from most people offering to help with Medicare decisions.

If someone in your family is being pressured about a plan change, this is the number to call before signing anything.

Veterans

Bannock County Veteran Services

The County Veteran Service Officer helps veterans and their dependents file claims, including Non-Service Connected Pension with Aid and Attendance, which is the benefit most relevant to families paying for in-home help and the one families most often haven't heard of. They also handle the Idaho property tax circuit breaker, survivor benefits, and burial benefits. Free.

Pocatello VA Clinic Primary care for enrolled veterans, part of the VA Salt Lake City system.

If someone isn't safe

Adult Protective Services, through the Area Agency on Aging, or statewide through the Idaho Commission on Aging at 1-877-471-2777. APS investigates abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults 18 and over. You don't need proof to make a report, and you can do it anonymously.

In an emergency, call 911.

Long-Term Care Ombudsman, also reached through the Area Agency on Aging. If you have concerns about the care someone is receiving in an assisted living facility or nursing home, the ombudsman is an independent advocate who investigates complaints. Families often don't know this exists and assume there's nowhere to go.

Senior Medicare Patrol, through the Area Agency on Aging. For Medicare fraud, billing that looks wrong, or anyone calling about "your Medicare benefits."

If someone is struggling emotionally

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988. Free, confidential, 24 hours a day.

Older adults are less likely to reach out than any other age group, and depression in later life is often mistaken for normal aging by everyone including the person experiencing it. If you're worried about someone, you can call 988 yourself to talk through what you're seeing.

A few honest notes

Call before you go. Hours change, especially around holidays, and small programs sometimes pause when staffing is short.

Waitlists are real. Home-delivered meals and homemaker services can have waiting periods. Get on a list sooner rather than at the point of crisis. The request costs nothing and you can always decline.

Eligibility is worth checking even if you assume no. Families rule themselves out of programs they'd have qualified for, usually on the basis of a guess about income limits. Let the agency make that determination.

You can ask for help asking for help. If phone calls and forms are the obstacle, and for a lot of families they are, that's part of what I do. Sorting out which programs apply, making calls, filling out paperwork, keeping track of what's been submitted.