Aging department focusing on underserved Alzheimer’s population

Aging department focusing on underserved Alzheimer’s population
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Sandy Strathmeyer and Rita Altman of Hershey-based Country Meadows Retirement Communities speak excitedly as they discuss the future of Alzheimer’s care. New drugs and measures such as dietary changes might soon help people prevent or slow down the degenerative disease of the brain, they said.
But beyond those who have family members with the disease, few people seem to know much about Alzheimer’s, Strathmeyer said. She and Altman
are corporate directors of Country Meadows’ Alzheimer’s and dementia care program.
“There is a very small number of people who know this information, and it would be great for more people to be educated about this,” Strathmeyer said.
That’s exactly what the Pennsylvania Department of Aging wants to do. In June, the federal Department of Health and Human Services awarded the state department almost $350,000 to develop the Pennsylvania Memory Loss Screening Project. The program is designed to improve dementia screening and care services for Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American and rural Pennsylvanians.
About 4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago. The disease also affects family members, caregivers and businesses. For example, the Alzheimer’s Association recently reported that Alzheimer’s costs American businesses $61 billion a year in caregiver time, productivity losses and health care costs.
Because of issues such as language and distance from health care facilities, minorities and people who live in rural areas sometimes have difficulties accessing Alzheimer’s education and services, said Greg Darr, an aging services specialist at the Pennsylvania Council on Aging. The council is part of the state Department of Aging.
“We’re trying to improve the climate for them,” Darr said. “The program begins to break down the barriers.”
The department will work with the state’s two Alzheimer’s Association chapters to administer and operate the program.
The department and the chapters will establish partnerships with community organizations that can reach out to their clients to find those who might be at risk for Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related problems, said Velma Carter-Dryer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Council on Aging.
Bob Rosenberger, president and chief executive officer of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Greater Pennsylvania chapter in Harrisburg, said each chapter will hire a staff person to work with health care providers and community organizations statewide.
People identified as being at risk for Alzheimer’s would be screened for the disease and, if a diagnosis were made, they and their families would be educated about care options, Rosenberger said.
The state’s local Area Agencies on Aging will also help to identify people who might have memory-loss problems, Carter-Dryer said.
“We are aware that there are many Pennsylvanians that are underserved,” Rosenberger said. “This will help us reach our targeted audiences.”
Darr said the federal funding provides money for the Memory Loss Screening Project to operate for three years.
The Department of Aging expects
the program to reach about
2,000 families during that period, he added.
Much of the first year will be spent organizing the program and establishing partnerships with community organizations, Carter-Dryer said. In the second and third years, the program will go into full operation, and funding sources to continue the program will be sought, she added.
County Meadows’ Altman said programs such as the Pennsylvania Memory Loss Screening Project would become more common as the population ages and more people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or have family members with the disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that at least 14 million Americans will have the disease by 2050, unless a cure or effective preventative measures are found.
“More and more baby boomers are afraid that they’re going to get it, so they’re looking for more ways to prevent it or to learn about it,” Altman said.