How can your Practice Improve Care for your Patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia?

Primary care professionals play a pivotal role in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and recommending lifestyle changes to help their patients to reduce their risk for dementia.

This informational and interactive eLearning module is designed for primary care teams to increase their knowledge and skills related to ADRD. The module discusses risk factors for ADRD, risk reduction strategies, evidence-based practices for culturally sensitive ADRD care, identifying a care partner, and using a team approach to ADRD care.

We invite primary care clinicians and teams to access this eLearning module to learn strategies to address dementia risk factors, support early diagnosis of dementia, and implement care planning and care partner support. The module is free for all learners and completers of the module will receive 2 AAFP CME credits.

To access the module please scan the QR code or go to: https://cuelearning.org/
Click the Register link to create an account. For Registration Code, please enter: ADRD (not case sensitive).

This toolkit was created by the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving (PHCOE-DC). Funded by the CDC as part of the BOLD Act, PHCOE-DC aims to assist state, tribal, and local public health agencies in developing their dementia caregiving focused programming and initiatives.

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide potential strategies and interventions that public health agencies can implement to support and elevate the work of family dementia caregivers in their jurisdictions, that are consistent with the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map.

This toolkit may be useful for all public health agencies as they set and pursue their dementia caregiving goals, but especially to public health departments that were awarded funding through the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act as they implement their Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) strategies using the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map as a guide.

Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging is an over 110-year old Cleveland-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to support caregivers and empower all people to age well through research, consumer-responsive services and client advocacy.

Through over two decades of rigorous research, they have developed two evidence-based programs:

BRI Care Consultation™
A care-coaching program that helps professionals deliver cost-effective assistance and support to individuals with chronic health conditions and family caregivers by telephone and email.

SHARE for Dementia
A care-planning program that provides professionals with the tools they need to help families facing an early-stage dementia diagnosis.

The Best Practice Caregiving, a free online database of vetted, proven dementia caregiving programs. Organizations that serve family caregivers can use this searchable, interactive, data-rich resource to compare and select from more than 40 evidence-based programs across the U.S.

This toolkit is intended to recognize and respond to stigma and discrimination. It has been designed by people living with dementia to help others – including other people living with dementia, the people who support them, and those who do research – to address the challenges of stigma and discrimination.

SAGE is a national advocacy and services organization for LGBT elders. Sage offers a multitude of services and supports including:
• Advocacy for LGBT Elders
• HIV & Aging Policy Action Coalition (HAPAC)
• National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, including resources related to dementia
• SAGE Hotline- 1-877-360-LGBT(5428). The SAGE LGBTQ+ Elder Hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in English and Spanish, with translation in 180 languages.

The mission of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is to provide support, services and education to individuals, families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias nationwide, and fund research for better treatment and a cure.

AFA offers professional trainings and educational workshops. AFA’s Continuing Education Workshops offer continuing education (CE) credits to licensed social workers, certified case managers, and other professionals across the US. To help individuals take a proactive approach to brain health, AFA has National Memory Screening Program which provides, free, confidential memory screenings at sites across the country.

AFA operates National Toll-Free Helpline (866-232-8484), staffed entirely by licensed social workers, which provides support and assistance to callers, as well as connect them with resources in their area, no matter where in the United States they live.

Pennsylvania Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (PA POLST) is a process that helps patients to receive the medical treatment they want, and avoid the medical treatments they do not want, when they are seriously ill or frail.

The PA POLST website offers resources on having the POLST conversation, a learning center, and self-paced education modules for continuing education credits in the POLST Self-Study section.

A variety of resources are available including:

-Communication cards: The Communication Cards depict a wide range of daily activities and situations and can be used to prompt discussion, assist with directions, or clarify needs, etc.

- Interpreter Cards: Multilingual wallet-sized cards to assist people with requesting interpreter services.

The mission of the CJD Foundation is to support families affected by Prion Disease, raise awareness, and support medical education and research. Family support including HelpLine, referrals, support groups, and education for families, caregivers, and medical professionals.

Resources are available for the following professions: Funeral Professionals, Hospice Professionals, Infection Control, and Medical Education.

TOLL-FREE HELPLINE: 1-800-659-1991

The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the Lewy body dementias (LBD), supporting people with LBD, their families and caregivers and promoting scientific advances.

Resources available are: LBD Diagnostic Symptoms Checklist, Emergency Room Treatment of Psychosis, Research News, Studies Seeking LBD Participants, and the option to order free patient handouts.

Multiple downloadable resources including infographics, resource guide, flyer, and video on dementia and firearm safety. Additional toolkits available including the Firarm Life Plan and Three Interventions Toolkit.

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) offer free firearm cable locks which are available at local PSP stations. This free PSP firearms safety card includes a firearm registry to list all firearms in the home.

The Firearm Life Plan site, and its associated resources, was developed to help people think about important questions related to their firearms and protect their families from the burden of making difficult decisions without guidance. A Firearm Life Plan is a voluntary, personal plan made between a firearm owner and those they trust.

A Firearm Life Plan will help a firearm owner be prepared. The Firearm Inventory worksheet outlines what someone wants done with their firearms, and when. The Legacy Map lets someone share the importance of firearms in their life and preserve their memories.

FTD is frequently misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s, depression, Parkinson’s disease, or a psychiatric condition. On average, it currently takes 3.6 years to get an accurate diagnosis. AFTD provides resources on diagnosing FTD, treating FTD, an e-newsletter for health professionals, and 25+ recorded webinars provide training presented by experts in the FTD field. Contact AFTD's HelpLine at 1-866-507-7222 or email info@theaftd.org.

Welcome to NIA's publications ordering site! Here you can order and download free publications about healthy aging and age-related diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

You can order and download online, call the NIA Information Center at 800-222-2225, or email niaic@mail.nih.gov for help in English and Spanish.

The ADRC performs and coordinates AD-related clinical and research activities and is a core source of support (e.g., resources, patients, tissue, expert consultation for research, clinical and training activities) regionally and nationally.
Through outpatient evaluations, participants and their families receive state-of-the-art diagnostic assessments and contribute to the scientific study of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Penn Memory Center is a single, unified Penn Medicine source for those age 65 and older seeking evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, information, and research opportunities related to symptoms of progressive memory loss, and accompanying changes in thinking, communication and personality.

Penn Memory Center offers state-of-the-science diagnosis, treatment and research, focusing on individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and other age-related progressive memory disorders.

Your local Area Agency on Aging will put you into contact with the programs and services in your area. This Locator Tool allows you to select your county from the drop-down menu to find contact information for the Area Agency on Aging serving your local area.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging works to ensure that older adults across Pennsylvania have access to quality services and supports that help them age and live well.

The department provides a wide array of services and programs intended to help older Pennsylvanians live and thrive in their homes and communities for as long as possible. These services include home-delivered and congregate meals, caregiver support, health and wellness services, personal assistance, senior community centers, Medicare enrollment counseling, transportation, job training, elder abuse prevention, PACE prescription assistance and more.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health offers resources highlighting the importance and value of early detection and diagnosis, awareness of knowing and analyzing signs and symptoms, best practices for delivering best care by ensuring cultural competency and addressing racial and ethnic disparities and inequities.