Booklet Showcases Maze of Services for Seniors : Information in the directory ranges from amusements and restaurants to nursing homes and elder-abuse prevention.

Twenty years ago, senior citizens who no longer wanted to live on their own could stay with family or check into a nursing home. Those were the choices.

Today, depending on finances, a senior could choose to live among communities labeled assisted living, continuing care, board and care, active adult, congregate living, independent living and life care. Just listing the choices can make a person dizzy--never mind figuring out what they all mean.

Entrepreneurs Elizabeth Nelson and Sue Ogle took a look at the choices--and challenges--facing senior citizens, and at the growing number of people 60 and over. They decided to publish a directory of services for seniors in Orange County.

Not only does their directory list housing and health services, but it deals with the brighter side of retirement: restaurants, libraries, art galleries and travel-planning specialists catering to senior citizens.

And the directory includes phone numbers for life’s sadder realities, such as elder-abuse advisers, legal and insurance services and mental health counseling.

It includes local and national resources, such as the American Assn. of Retired Persons. And several articles offer tips on choosing an investment adviser, asking doctors the right questions and deciding what types of insurance to buy.

Nelson and Ogle, who conduct business as Capistrano-based Riviera Publications, are in the process of distributing the $4.95 directories to bookstores, newsstands and grocery store magazine shelves. The publication, called Orange County Senior’s Directory, is also available by mail: Riviera Publications, P.O. Box 2894, Capistrano Beach 92624. (714) 496-2068.

The new directories are receiving good reviews from the elderly support community.

Maria Estrada, executive director of Seniors Support Service in Tustin, advertises in the directory. She offers conservatorship services, but because of the company’s name, she said she often receives calls for general information.

“People don’t know what’s out there, especially the families” of seniors, she said.

“In that sense, this is a good little directory,” she added.

Dorothy Glass, director of the resource referral service of the Orange County Area Agency on Aging, said the benefit of such a directory is that it lists services for the well-off along with the poor. Most directories produced by public agencies focus on seniors with low incomes. Glass’ agency publishes a directory of nonprofit services, which is available free by calling (714) 567-7500.

Additionally, the agency on aging’s directory avoids listing financial advisers or lawyers, for example, because it would appear to be endorsing them.

“I feel (the Riviera Publications directory) can answer a need beyond what we are doing as an agency,” Glass said. “We have a lot of seniors who can well afford those services, and they need to know where to find them.”

Of the Orange County households made up of people 65 and older, nearly 52% reported annual incomes of more than $25,000 when the 1990 U.S. Census was compiled. That compares to 33% nationwide.

In Orange County, according to the Area Agency on Aging, about 15,929 seniors live below the federal poverty level of $5,947 a year. That is roughly 5% of people 65 and older.

Those statistics, and the growing elderly population, attracted Nelson and Ogle. For six years, they have been publishing a children’s directory for Orange County parents, called Orange County Children’s Directory. That publication is modeled on the same philosophy of specializing in upscale listings, while giving a nod to the free services available.

“We wanted it to be as upscale as we could make it, so it would be attractive to parents who are investing in their children’s future,” Nelson said.

The children’s directory has done well, and Nelson and Ogle have produced a separate edition for San Diego County. Their business began with a $500 investment, and this year they estimate company revenues will reach $300,000.

They are currently working on a plan to license others to publish such directories in different parts of the country.

Ogle and Nelson met when they were selling ads for a small, local newspaper in Laguna Beach. Ogle had left a career as a pediatric nurse and was trying to learn about sales and marketing. Nelson had been in sales but wanted to run her own business.

They originally started by publishing guides for tourists--folded maps with ads around the borders. When Nelson had her first baby in 1986, they were inspired to put together a directory.

“They were handing me this baby without instructions, and there’s so much pressure to be the perfect parent,” she said. “Then I found there were so many people out there who wanted to support and assist me” in learning how to care for a child.

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