Support for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia
Eleven Minnesota organizations will be able to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, promote early diagnosis, and connect caregivers to resources, thanks to grants from the Minnesota Board on Aging. The Board on Aging is granting nearly $750,000 to the 11 organizations.
“These funds support not only people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, but their family and friends, who play such a critical role in caregiving,” said Kari Benson, executive director of the Minnesota Board on Aging. “Alzheimer’s alone impacts some 100,000 Minnesotans over age 65 – a number that will grow 20 percent by 2025.”
Local grant recipients for 2023 are:
• Central Minnesota Dementia Community Action Network, St. Cloud, $150,000, for continued work in developing a community-based Dementia Resource Center promoting dementia prevention strategies among all primary and specialty care clinicians, facilitating more primary care clinicians providing full-spectrum dementia care, increasing access and use of dementia care resources for families living with dementia, and expanding an online Dementia Resource Directory.
• Volunteers of America-Minnesota, Edina, $9,954, to enhance and expand services that identify, educate and support diverse populations facing the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and those who care for them. Activities include providing culturally appropriate memory and chronic disease screening/testing and facilitated connections to needed services, broader community education about dementia through outreach, and helping family and friends providing care to better manage their own health through evidence-based education and individual support.