Healthy north central texas: equipping community health workers to conduct dementia and depression screens and provide dementia-capable direct services - healthy north central texas (hnct) will…

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) received a $750,000 cooperative agreement from the Administration on Aging under the Alzheimer's Disease Program Initiative (CFDA 93.470) awarded September 30, 2025, with a completion date of September 29, 2028. The Healthy North Central Texas initiative equips community health workers (CHWs) with knowledge and skills to serve persons living with dementia (PLWD) and their informal family caregivers (FCs) through dementia screening, depression screening, referrals for clinical diagnosis, and evidence-based counseling services. Key deliverables include adaptation of the Program for Encouraging Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS) for PLWD/FCs, development of CHW supplemental curricula, establishment of protocols for dementia and depression screening and referrals, and outreach materials. NCTCOG targets screening 500 PLWD/FCs for dementia, conducting depression screens on 300 individuals, and providing dementia-capable PEARLS counseling to 125 PLWD/FCs.

The program includes two sub-awardees supporting implementation. Prognosus, LLC (sub-award effective April 22, 2026) develops and delivers a 30-hour dementia-capable curriculum for CHWs covering dementia recognition, administration of the AD-8 screening tool, understanding dementia's disparate impact on racial minorities, caregiver burnout recognition and management, dementia-related behavioral responses, and clinical referral procedures. The University of Texas System (sub-award effective February 11, 2026) provides third-party evaluation services, including baseline assessment, development of research methodology, process and outcome data analysis, quality assurance oversight, and sustainability recommendations to measure program effectiveness and inform future translation of successful components.

Healthy north central texas: equipping community health workers to conduct dementia and depression screens and provide dementia-capable direct services - healthy north central texas (hnct) will equip community health workers (chws) with the knowledge and skills to serve people living with dementia (plwd) and their informal family caregivers (FCS). More specifically, IT will mobilize chws to conduct dementia screens of persons who have concerns about cognitive abilities, make referrals for accurate diagnosis, screen plwd and FCS for depression, and engage plwd and FCS in dementia-capable counseling. Hnct's goal is to develop and strengthen a person-centered workforce capable of increasing the quality and quantity of dementia services, allowing persons living with dementia (plwd) to optimize quality of life and community tenure. Objectives are to: (1) adapt the program for encouraging active, rewarding lives (pearls) for plwd/FCS; (2) develop and implement a training program for chws that equips them to provide dementia-capable information, referral, and direct services to plwd/FCS; (3) utilize chws to conduct dementia screens of 500 plwd/FCS; (4) refer all plwd/FCS with positive results for accurate dementia diagnosis; (5) conduct depression screens of 300 plwd/FCS; and (6) provide pearls dementia-specific counseling to 125 plwd/FCS. Anticipated outcomes include: (1) increase in CHW's knowledge, skills, and confidence in working with plwd and FCS; (2) increase in the number of clients receiving dementia screening, depression screening, and accurate diagnoses; (3) improvement in plwds'/FCS' self-efficacy in overcoming challenges living with cognitive decline and decrease in severity of depression among plwd/FCS participating in the adapted pearls program. Expected work products include pearls adaptations, CHW supplemental curricula, established protocol for dementia and depression screens and subsequent referrals for clinical and social services, outreach materials, evaluation report, and final program report.