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UIndy Center for Aging & Community tapped for role in $1.3M grant

UIndy students at Joy's House (file photo)

The University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community has been selected by the Indiana University School of Medicine as a partner in a 36-month venture to enhance, strengthen and expand supports for people with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers in 34 Indiana counties. This venture, called the Alzheimer’s Disease Programs Initiative (ADPI), is supported by a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services

CAC’s role in ADPI is to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the project, which builds upon existing home and community-based social supports to maximize the ability of people with ADRD to remain independent in their communities.

“CAC has established expertise in project evaluation over the course of nearly 20 years,” said Dr. Ellen Miller, CAC executive director. “We are proud to be selected as a partner in the ADPI project and look forward to determining its impact on Indiana citizens living with dementia.” 

Other ADPI partners include Eskenazi Health; Central Indiana’s Area Agency on Aging (AAA) CICOA Aging and In-Home Solutions and four additional Indiana AAAs (Aging & In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana, LifeStream Services, REAL Services, and Thrive Alliance); Indiana Association of Area Agencies on Aging; Indiana Professional Management Group; Greater Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association; Dementia Friends Indiana; and the Divisions of Aging and Disability & Rehabilitative Services of Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.

To achieve their goal, ADPI partners will deploy a collaborative dementia care model and training interventions, which have been proven to reduce caregiver stress and improve quality of life. People with ADRD and their caregivers will receive coaching from community health workers serving as dementia care coordinator assistants, and in-home personal care workers will receive specialized training in dementia care.

ADPI will serve 1,000 individuals who are eligible for nursing home care, yet are living in the community aided by Medicaid in-home services and support. In particular, people with ADRD who live alone or are aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Down’s syndrome, will receive support. In addition, the ADPI will provide training in dementia care to 500 personal care workers.  

The U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services contributed one million dollars in federal funds to the total grant, or 75 percent of the project’s total costs. The remaining 25 percent of the total—$333,333 in nongovernmental matching funds—was financed by the five partner Area Agencies on Aging.