Building support for persons with dementia through community health workers in north central florida - elder options, the area agency on aging and aging and disability resource center for north…

Elder Options, the Area Agency on Aging and Aging and Disability Resource Center for North Central Florida, received a $750,000 cooperative agreement from the Administration on Aging under the Alzheimer's Disease Program Initiative (ADPI, CFDA 93.470) awarded September 30, 2025, with a completion date of September 29, 2028. The award funds implementation of a dementia-capable community health worker (CHW) model designed to expand access to early detection, evidence-based caregiver interventions, and direct services for people living with dementia and their caregivers, with priority focus in rural and underserved communities within North Central Florida.

Under this agreement, Elder Options will recruit, train, and deploy staff and volunteer CHWs to conduct community-based dementia screenings, provide care navigation services, deliver caregiver support groups, and implement three evidence-based caregiver interventions: the Savvy Caregiver Program, Coping with Caregiving, and Care Ecosystems. Over the three-year period, the project commits to training six CHW staff and 24 CHW volunteers; delivering at least 60 Savvy Caregiver and 27 Coping with Caregiving series; conducting a minimum of 12 community outreach and education events annually (with at least 6 in rural communities); and providing care navigation services to 200 caregivers. The initiative includes a comprehensive evaluation component to assess impact on persons living with dementia, caregivers, and CHWs themselves to support long-term sustainability and future replication.

Building support for persons with dementia through community health workers in north central florida - elder options, the area agency on aging and aging and disability resource center for north central florida, proposes to implement a dementia-capable community health worker (CHW) model that expands access to early detection, evidence-based caregiver interventions, and direct services for people living with dementia and their caregivers with priority focus in rural and underserved communities. The goal of the project is to create, implement, and evaluate a dementia-capable community health worker (CHW) model that improves access to early detection, enhances caregiver support, and reduces disparities in dementia care. The project will recruit, train and deploy staff and volunteer community health workers to conduct community-based dementia screenings, provide early engagement, education and outreach, deliver person-centered, one-on-one care navigation, provide caregiver support groups and implement three evidence-based/informed caregiver interventions: the savvy caregiver program, coping with caregiving, and care ecosystems. The project consists of 3 primary objectives: (1)expand early detection and engagement in dementia care through a dementia capable CHW-led outreach and screening model. (2) reduce barriers to dementia care access by delivering evidence-based and person-centered interventions, and (3) evaluate the impact of the CHW model on people living with dementia, caregivers, and the chws themselves to support sustainability and future replication. Examples of outcomes the project will produce are: train 4 existing and 2 new CHW staff and 24 CHW volunteers in dementia-capable care, deliver at least 60 savvy caregiver and 27 coping with caregiving series over three years, conduct a minimum of 12 community outreach and education events, with at least 6 in rural communities annually, and provide care navigation services to 200 caregivers.