About AoA Alzheimer's Program
2005
The U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) has announced
over $10.5 million in funding for grant projects to develop innovative
models of care for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and
their family caregivers. Starting July 1, 2005, the $10.5
million funding allocation will support new grants to 10 states
and continuation grants to 28 states.
Descriptions of the 10 new projects and amounts of each award
are listed below:
State of Colorado, Board
of Governors, $290,000: Build on the
success of the prior project by continuing Savvy Caregiver training
and providing follow-up services to rural populations. Conduct
Alzheimer’s training targeting family caregivers of rural,
Hispanic, African American, and developmentally disabled adults
with dementia for three years. Objectives include training caregivers,
providing follow-up supportive services, starting new adult day
care programs, promoting respite care through grants to individual
families, exploring service delivery across state lines, and
using a Coordination Task Force to recommend policies for streamlining
service delivery.
Illinois Department of
Public Health, $290,000: Expand upon
knowledge gained from previous grant to support persons with
ADRD and their family/caregivers through increased access and
use of home and community-based services. Demonstration models
will target two diverse underserved elderly populations (rural
and limited English speaking). This project will provide support
and training for family/caregivers; increase coordination/referrals
between partners and other community-based agencies/organizations;
and increase the number of persons with memory problems who receive
appropriate assessment, diagnosis and treatment.
Maryland Department of
Aging, $290,000: Conduct program of interventions
emphasizing active engagement of Alzheimer’s family caregivers.
The project will target caregivers living in the rural areas
of Western Maryland and three counties on the Upper Eastern Shore,
and caregivers of the Latino/Hispanic population in Baltimore
City. The focus of the Maryland Respite, Outreach, Support and
Education (ROSE) Project is to work within the National Family
Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) to enable families to develop
and rely on natural supports within their families and communities,
developing community partners that are capable of assisting families
affected by dementia.
Michigan Department
of Community Health, $241,597: Promote
a collaborative approach among mental health, public health and
aging services systems in developing community models of support
for people with dementia and family members involved in their
care. This project will link individuals with dementia who
exhibit acute behavioral symptoms of distress and their families
with an array of wraparound services and support; increase
level of competency of home-based service providers; and provide
primary care physicians with a peer support network for dementia
care and community resources. Build upon strategies outlined
in the Michigan Dementia Plan and fits with systems change
objectives and selected strategies posed by the governor’s
Medicaid Long Term Care Task Force.
Montana Department of
Public Health & Human Services, $290,000: Develop sustainable respite care programs and provide caregiver
support services for a frontier/rural population. Address systemic
issues that impede the efficient delivery of respite services,
increase access to respite care in frontier/rural areas, and
educate Alzheimer’s caregivers and the general public about
the disease, the need and availability of respite services, and
provide caregiver skill-based training.
New Jersey Department
of Health and Senior Services, (1-year) $150,000: This one-year capacity-building grant will utilize
environmental interventions and assistive technologies as tools
for dementia care. Provide 60 families with environmental assessments,
education, intervention planning and implementation to improve
family dementia care. Assess and recommend physical plant changes
to better serve individuals with dementia in collaboration with
a selected Alzheimer’s Adult Day Service Program and a
community organization serving a diverse population.
New York State Office
for the Aging, $290,000: Integrate services
for persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias
(ADRD) living in rural areas and ethnically diverse small cities
into the state’s long-term care systems change initiatives.
Emphasize collaborative partnerships to develop a new model for
ADRD care that advances systems change and diversion from institutional
care.
Texas Department of Aging & Disability
Services, $225,000: Expand service options and improve access to information, training
and support services. Focus will be geared to individuals who
reside in rural areas and those who are members of racial or
ethnic minority groups. Improve the ability of informal caregivers
to sustain their caregiving role by expanding service options
and streamlining system access to improve service delivery by
reducing duplication and eliminating silos by implementing innovative
approaches that serve as a vehicle for advancing changes to the
state’s overall system of home and community-based care.
Washington State Department
of Social & Health Services,
$290,000: Improve the responsiveness of Washington State’s
system of home and community-based services to the needs and
preferences of individuals with dementia and their family caregivers
by integrating dementia-capable services into existing state
programs. This collaborative effort will utilize the infrastructure
of the statewide Family Caregiver Support Program, the expertise
of Alzheimer’s-specific organizations, and the service
potential of the model dementia day services provider.
West Virginia Bureau
of Senior Services, $290,000: Develop
and implement a multi-faceted project to address the challenge
of providing a continuum of information in order to increase
the knowledge and coping skills of up to 500 families of persons
with Alzheimer’s Disease in the most rural areas of the
state. Initiate a reassessment of hospice admitting criteria
for people with Alzheimer’s Disease in two counties and
provide access to grief and bereavement counseling to families
as well as support, enhance, and/or expand respite care in
up to 16 counties. This project will build upon and become
an integral part of the state systems change initiatives for
home and community-based services.
Continuing Grants
The following 28 states also received grants for their continuing
efforts to serve persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Descriptions
of the projects are listed below:
Alabama Department of
Senior Services, $311,150: Improve direct
services available to family caregivers by incorporating Resources
for Enhancing Alzheimer Caregiver’s Health (REACH) evidence-based,
in-home social and behavioral interventions; and improving Alabama’s
overall system of care by incorporating the needs and preferences
of persons with dementia into the State’s long term care
system. The project will expand volunteer services to include
Caring Teams that partner with faith based communities to provide
in-home and supportive services to families, and through Leadership
Institutes for Older Adults which provide systems advocacy and
volunteer service.
Arizona Department of
Economic Security, Division of Aging and Community Services,
Aging and Adult Administration, $276,059: Build upon its Walk of Friendship model of assistance to address
the need for care systems that are dementia-capable and culturally
sensitive for individuals with dementia, their families, and
their caregivers. The goals of the program are to expand culturally
sensitive and linguistically appropriate services and materials
for persons with dementia and their caregivers and to improve
coordination and service delivery of home and community based
services at the state and local level.
Arkansas Department of
Human Services, Aging and Adult Services, $275,754: The Focus on Families project combines models of direct
care for underserved populations, use of faith-based and other
volunteer organizations, plus innovative methods for improving
access to services, information, and supports. The goal is to
focus services/support at the home and community level for people
with AD/related disorders and their family caregivers, develop
additional services, and make access to services easier and resource
information more readily available.
California Department
of Aging, $311,150: Develop and expand
culturally and linguistically competent services for Asian-American,
dementia-affected families in Northern and Southern California.
The project’s goal is to enhance the capacity of local
health and social service providers to serve Vietnamese, Korean
and Chinese dementia-affected families. The project’s strategy
is to build community capacity through coordination of community-based
collaborations; training for ethnically diverse professional
providers; and service coordination for caregiving families via
bi-cultural, paraprofessional Care Advocates.
Connecticut Department
of Social Services, Division of Social Work and Prevention
Services, $250,000: To provide community
outreach, awareness, clinical and supportive services to persons
in various stages of Alzheimer’s disease and their families
in low-income, rural, and ethnic/cultural communities. Population
specific brochures, evaluation/assessment tools, training manuals,
and treatment manuals will be distributed to social service/health
care agencies and non-traditional agencies like faith communities,
ethnic/advocacy organizations, etc.
Delaware Department of
Health and Social Services, Division of Services for Aging
and Adults with Physical Disabilities, $161,150: Implement the Delaware Memory Loss Screening Demonstration
Project. The memory loss screening tool was developed by the
University of PA Memory Loss Clinic and is a proven instrument
to identify possible neurological problems. The project will
target populations that are confronted with substantial barriers
to accessing memory loss screening and support services. This
is a community-based, education and service program that will
bring memory loss screenings and dementia-related services directly
to people in their communities.
District of Columbia
Office on Aging, $263,768: The District
of Columbia Office on Aging (DC OoA) plans to conduct a three-year
program mobilizing the African American faith community to create
community coalitions that elevate awareness of Alzheimer’s
Disease and related disorders (ADRD) and increase utilization
of services by African Americans. Goals include reaching African
Americans who are not linked to services, testing an approach
to link caregivers to direct services, and providing Montessori-Based
Activities for Persons with Dementia (MBAP) at adult day care
centers.
Florida Department of
Elder Affairs, $311,150: Increase access
to services for individuals with dementia, their caregivers and
families residing in traditionally underserved rural, minority
and culturally diverse communities. The project approach will
emphasize collaborative partnerships among service agencies to
minority, elderly and culturally diverse dementia clients and
their caregivers in rural areas found in the nine service counties.
Idaho Commission on Aging,
$293,217: To provide a network of
services and a single point of entry for people with Alzheimer’s
Disease and their families through the “Stand By You” Program.
Supportive services will include a ‘Family Advisor’ for
the caregiver, monthly orientations to Alzheimer’s Disease,
nine-week in-depth training courses for individuals, couples
and family members, and responsive paid and informal respite
and companion services and dementia-specific training for providers.
Indiana Bureau of Aging
and In-Home Services, $311,150: Enhance
support to the Alzheimer’s Disease caregivers in Indiana.
The objectives of this project involve the expansion of the video
monitoring technology that allows caregivers to monitor persons
with Alzheimer’s Disease through video cameras and computer
software from an off-site location. The Powerful Tools Training
that “trains the trainer” will be offered statewide
to Area Agency on Aging and state staff. Caregivers will learn
how to take care of themselves, to access help and community
services. Development of a Volunteer Respite Program that targets
Alzheimer’s caregivers will further increase the support
tools available. A volunteer coordinator will recruit community
help to provide respite care. The availability of these support
programs will enhance the support statewide for the caregiver.
Iowa Department of Elder
Affairs, $311,150: Increase the capacity
of Adult Day Health and Respite (ADR) providers to serve persons
with dementia in rural settings and emerging minority populations
with culturally appropriate service. Goals include: 1) convene
statewide committee to evaluate and develop ADR training; 2)
increase use of direct services for ADR care; 3) assessment
and intervention services and staff education to ADR provided
by a Memory Loss Nurse Specialist (MLNS); and 4) evaluate and
develop culturally sensitive education, training materials,
classes, and services.
Kentucky Cabinet for
Health Services, $189,029: To increase
awareness of dementia and utilization of services by the African-American
community. This program will offer dementia diagnostic services
for African-Americans in their communities and offer two separate
services through local churches: 1) support groups and 2) a Best
Friends care program.
Louisiana Governor’s Office
of Elderly Affairs, $311,150: Improve the responsiveness of Louisiana’s overall system
of home and community-based care to the needs and preferences
of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and their caregivers.
The major objectives of the partnership are to streamline access
to information and services that support persons with Alzheimer’s
Disease and their caregivers; increase consumer control in service
options; empower individuals and their caregivers with increased
skills and tools to self-advocate and manage needs; and increase
services to the underserved through outreach to rural and minority
residents.
Maine Dept of Human Services,
Bureau of Elder and Adult Services, $297,121: Increase access to an array of services provided to
caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s Disease in rural
Maine through collaboration among providers within Maine’s
Home and Community Based Care System (HBCS), the Aging Network,
and Real Choice System Change Initiatives. The project will expand
the pilot caregiver companion program to rural counties and add
mental health, end of life care and hospice referral services
for clients/families affected by AD served by the HBCS and AAAs.
The project will expand the focus of the ADRC’s to include
family caregivers. Priority will be on increasing end of life
care and hospice services in aging programs. Finally, the project
will recognize direct care workers trained in dementia care in
collaboration with the Direct Care Workforce Demonstration.
Minnesota Board on Aging,
$311,150: The Minnesota Working Together
project will implement systems change effort to connect the medical
and community care systems to create an integrated service system
for caregivers and individuals with dementia to increase dementia
identification, assessment, treatment and caregiver respite.
Missouri Department of
Health and Senior Services, Division of Senior Services and
Regulation, $230,523: “Empowerment
Groups” will provide an innovative community respite model
for individuals in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s based
on their capacity to self-direct care and supporting a sense
of purpose and value for the individual. A security support program
addressing difficulties with wandering behavior. “Staying
Home” grant funding to expand care support options for
those individuals in the later stages of a dementia. Contracting
with the four (4) chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association,
Missouri will strengthen the mounting movement towards strength-based
care, responsiveness to individual philosophy of life and bolstering
opportunities to remain in the home longer.
Nebraska Department
of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Disability
Services, $150,000: To provide consumer-directed
services to persons with AD and their caregivers in diverse
underserved segments of Nebraska. Program will offer mental
health services, individual volunteer mentors and expanded
training and education to caregivers suffering from mental
distress, as well as direct financial support in the form of
vouchers. Program will also work to enhance efficiency of statewide
voluntary health organizations for Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s,
and Parkinson’s diseases.
Nevada Department of
Human Resources, Division of Aging Services, $311,150: Fund and coordinate four dementia-related service providers.
These providers will target Nevada’s rural residents, those
with early stage dementia, and both urban and rural under-served
minorities. These and all other dementia-related services will
be integrated into all home and community-based services (HCBS)
networks through the Division’s computerized Single Point
of Entry (SPE) system. SPE is based on a robust software platform
(“SYNERGY”) that integrated databases, including
those providing resources and referral options.
New Mexico Aging and
Long-Term Services Department, $311,150: Develop and implement respite care services, particularly community
based adult day care, targeting underserved communities and tribes
in rural New Mexico. ALTSDA will provide regional caregiver support
services to be coordinated by Area Agencies on Aging throughout
New Mexico. AAAs will employ regional care coordinators who will
provide individual client services, training and advocacy. Care
coordinators will receive many of their referrals from the ALTSD
Aging and Disability Resource Center.
North Carolina Department
of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services,
$311,150: Implement consumer-directed
respite for dementia caregivers in ten counties. . The aging
service delivery system will be bolstered by the integration
of dementia-capable resources into the Family Caregiver Support
Program, the new Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and the
state long-term care plan. Products to be disseminated include
dementia-specific materials on family decision-making and consumer-directed
service use, guidelines on how to respond to caregiver anger,
materials on rural and minority family care topics, visiting
tips for faith-based volunteers, and a policy paper based on
the grant experience and literature review.
North Dakota Department
of Human Services, Aging Services Division, $261,150: ND Working Together project will build an alliance
between the medical community, Parish Nurses, OAA and community
services to increase dementia identification, treatment and caregiver
respite with a special focus on rural areas and American Indian
reservations. A University of ND dementia curriculum will train
a pool of Qualified Service Providers (QSPs) with expertise in
dementia care. Two medical systems will provide protocols, tools
and training to the medical community to facilitate assessment,
treatment and referral for enhanced respite services.
Puerto Rico Governor’s Office
for Elderly Affairs, Education and Training Division, $300,000: To provide a comprehensive home-based
support service model for Hispanic Persons with Alzheimer Disease
(AD) and their caregivers. Participants will have available a
variety of respite services, home health care, companionship,
homemaker services and case management, as well as information
and training to strengthen their skills and well being. Advisory
Council will play an active role in planning, implementation
and evaluation activities.
Rhode Island Department
of Elderly Affairs, $294,050: Support
RI’s Systems Change Initiatives, particularly the new ADRC,
by developing and strengthening statewide resources for AD families,
especially minority families and those at or near the poverty
line. Changes in RI’s overall home and community-based
system of long-term care will result from streamlining access
to services and family caregiver support services for AD families.
An interagency Project Advisory Group, comprising advocates and
consumers as well as AD and aging professionals, will guide and
oversee this three-year effort.
Tennessee Commission
on Aging and Disability, $311,150: Provide
respite services for about 300 persons with Alzheimer’s
Disease and their caregivers in five (5) counties. Implementation
of the coping with caregiving REACH model in Tennessee; health
promotion/disease prevention provided to Alzheimer’s caregivers
in collaboration with the National Family Caregiving Support
Program; a media campaign to assist the project; implementation
of family directed care in the Tennessee Aging Services; exploration
of potential program enhancements for Tennessee in-home services,
making them more responsive to the needs of caregivers.
Utah Department of Human
Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services, $300,000: To increase access to community-based respite
services and develop a system of in-home respite care that is
volunteer driven for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and
related dementias and their caregivers in rural areas of the
state and/or minority communities. Program will develop relationships
with diverse organizations and faith based programs to mobilize
and train volunteer.
Vermont Dept of Aging
and Independent Living, Division of Advocacy and Independence,
$311,150: Develop and implement supportive,
educational and/or direct service interventions for caregivers
of people with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders
(ADRD). The project will serve 450 households, targeting family
caregivers with low incomes, caregivers residing in rural, underserved
areas of the state and supportive services teams caring for people
with ADRD and developmental disabilities. VT DAIL will link project
activities to VT’s community based long-term system, enhancing
existing services and developing new resources, such as case
management and eldercare mental health within primary care practices;
dementia care capable developmental service teams; and caregiver
wellness and supportive services projects.
Virginia Department for
the Aging, $311,150: Initiate three
new projects to improve services to older Virginians and their
families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders
(AD) and to better integrate Alzheimer’s disease programs
into the long-term care services system. The first project will
provide respite care to families caring for persons with AD.
The second project will demonstrate the viability of the systems
changes that will result from the development of a Comprehensive
Virtual Center on Alzheimer’s Disease. The third and final
project will initiate the development of affordable driver assessment
and rehabilitation programs in Virginia targeted to drivers in
the very early stages of AD. VDA will also reactivate the state-level
Alzheimer’s Disease Response Task Force (ADRTF), created
under the department’s first ADDGS grant, to provide ongoing
guidance during the implementation and evaluation of the three
objectives.
Wisconsin Department
of Health and Family Services, Division of Disability and Elder
Services, $311,150: Demonstrations
of Memory Care Connections, a model of local collaboration
aligning dementia services provided by diagnostic clinics,
Aging/Disability Resource Centers, Alzheimer’s Association
Chapters and service providers. The goal is to provide individuals
and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease with the
information, medical diagnosis and management, caregiver support
and services needed to achieve improved quality of life through
closely connected local dementia services networks. Local sites
will be funded to deploy nurses/social workers to link consumers
with the dementia service network.
AoA Alzheimer’s
Web Page
The AoA Alzheimer’s Resource Room is a web-page on the
AoA website which provides information and tips to family members
and caregivers providing care for persons with Alzheimer’s
disease. The site also provides information, outreach, and service
development strategies for professionals serving Alzheimer’s
families. Many products and resources developed through the AoA
Alzheimer’s Demonstration Program are listed, along with
contact information for obtaining copies for local use. Family
education and outreach materials in several languages, as well
as community and facility-based Alzheimer’s care training
manuals are among the highlighted resources. Links to information
about important clinical trials as well as to caregiver resources
should prove of interest to professionals and family members
alike. Please visit the new page at http://www.aoa.gov/alz .
Additional Info
Additional information about the ADDGS program is available by
contacting Lori Stalbaum at (202) 357-3452. Information about
the AoA and programs and services it administers for older
adults and their families is available on the web at: www.aoa.gov
|