NC Dementia and Brain Health Outreach and Awareness Toolkit

The North Carolina Dementia and Brain Health Outreach and Awareness Toolkit is intended to increase awareness and promote education about the importance of risk reduction, early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), prevention and management of chronic conditions and avoidable hospitalizations, and the role of caregiving for persons with dementia. It is developed for local public health agencies and their partners, community-based organizations, dementia care programs, dementia-capable services within home and community-based service (HCBS) systems, community health workers, insurance companies, ADRD advocates and other professionals. The purpose of the toolkit is to educate staff, the public, older adults, adults with disabilities, and those who are caring for them about brain health and dementia.

Alzheimer's and Dementia - Worldwide, 55 million people are living with Alzheimer's and other dementias. An estimated 6.7 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's in 2023. Seventy-three percent are aged 75 or older. About 1 in 9 people aged 65 and older (10.7%) has Alzheimer's.[i] Alzheimer's disease is a growing public health crisis in North Carolina. The impact of Alzheimer's is projected to rise, and the most recent data show that 180,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's in North Carolina.[ii] Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and the most common form of dementia. Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a group of symptoms.[iii]

Alzheimer’s begins 20 years or more before memory loss and other symptoms develop. Millions of Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. As the size of the U.S. population age 65 and older continues to grow, so too will the number and proportion of Americans with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Although age, genetics and family history cannot be changed, some risk factors can be changed or modified to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Examples of modifiable risk factors are physical activity, smoking, education, staying socially and mentally active, blood pressure and diet. In fact, the 2020 recommendations of The Lancet Commission suggest that addressing modifiable risk factors might prevent or delay up to 40% of dementia cases. [iv] 

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Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your Brain Health Training by collecting data from trainings, though pre/post surveys is a great way to demonstrate the impact of your Brain Health trainings. The data can also be a useful tool to support program sustainability. ACL has compiled a database of questions that align with the content in the Brain Health trainings described above. Organizations providing the trainings can select questions from the database to develop a pre/post survey for their training sessions. The survey should be administered before a class begins and again at the end of the session to measure and document what the attendees learned during the training.

The toolkit is a collaborative effort with contributions from members of the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure Project North Carolina (BOLD NC) Action Team. See Appendix for list of members.
The North Carolina Dementia and Brain Health Outreach and Awareness Toolkit is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling 100% funded by CDC/HHS. The information and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by DHHS or the U.S. Government.

Additional Sources:
ACL’s National Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center website https://nadrc.acl.gov/
ADRC Highlights of Administration on Aging Alzheimer's and Dementia Program Grantee-Developed Resources 2nd Edition https://nadrc.acl.gov/details?search1=20230719035406  
 Resilient Living Education Series https://livewell.org/media-library/ 
[i] https://www.alz.org/alzheimer_s_dementia
[ii] https://www.alz.org/professionals/public-health/state-overview/north-carolina
[iii] https://www.alz.org/alzheimer_s_dementia
[iv] https://www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf