Dementia Care

The Maximizing Independence (MIND) at Home program at Johns Hopkins University provides home and community-based care coordination for individuals and families living with dementia. Through focus groups with Black caregivers, researchers at Johns Hopkins aimed to better understand the unique needs of Black patients and families living with dementia, identify opportunities to improve care delivery, and understand caregivers’ perception of the MIND at Home program. This blog post from The Playbook explains the MIND at Home program and how dementia care coordination programs can better support Black patients and their families.

The University of Kansas School of Nursing is seeking nursing homes to participate in an NIH-funded research study testing a new online version of the evidence-based Changing Talk (CHAT) communication training program. CHAT educates staff about reducing elderspeak (infantilizing communication) and results in reduced behavioral symptoms and need for psychotropic medication for residents with dementia. The new online version (Changing Talk: Online Training (CHATO)) consists of 3, one-hour interactive online modules that provide flexible and accessible access for staff.

Researchers at Emory University Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center are seeking participants for a study on LGBTQ caregivers. The project is intended to help develop a caregiver training program that addresses the obstacles these caregivers face in caring for people with Dementia. The center is seeking individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, are 18 or older, and consider themselves a primary caregiver to complete a 60 minute questionnaire.

This action brief offers an overview of the challenges of caregiving for people living with dementia, then provides state, local, and tribal public health leaders with a framework and resources for action. It calls for public health to employ its chief health strategist role by bringing key stakeholders from multiple sectors to the table — alongside caregivers for adults living with dementia — to develop a broad, 360-degree, macro-level approach to promoting caregiving.

The D.C., Georgia, Minnesota, and Vermont state innovation profiles capture projects, demonstrations, and partnerships that were shared by states at ADvancing States’s 2016 spring membership meeting. Each profile was developed in collaboration with the state agency.