Empowering Rural Healthcare: LSU Receives Major Grant to Transform Dementia Care
November 12, 2024
Investigators of the Health Resources & Services Administration grant received by the LSU Healthy Aging Research Center.
In the United States, approximately 6.5 million older adults 65 years of age or older are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, or ADRD. Louisiana and Mississippi are ranked among the top five states for the highest occurrence of ADRD per person aged 65 years and older, and ADRD is ranked as the seventh leading cause of death in these states.
The LSU Healthy Aging Research Center’s Scott Wilks received and will be the principal investigator of a five-year, $5 million Health Resources & Services Administration, or HRSA, grant to use toward educating and training primary care and geriatrics workforces in rural and underserved areas in dementia-friendly care with a specific focus on Alzheimer’s Disease for their project titled “Louisiana-Mississippi Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Project.”
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“There are approximately 95,000 people aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s disease in Louisiana, and around 168,000 family members dutifully serve as their care partners,” said Dr. Wilks. “Funding for this program will enable us to provide resources in communities with little to nothing available for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.”
The project brings together teams from multiple institutions, including the University of Southern Mississippi, Ochsner Health, Chamberlain College of Nursing, and Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area.
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