Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Office of Rural Health Outreach Grant to the Greater Wisconsin Alzheimer's Association

The purpose of this grant is to serve persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias by building service capacity and impacting service quality in the targeted 16 Counties in rural Northern Wisconsin. These Counties include: Burnett, Barron, Polk, Washburn, Sawyer, Bayfield, Ashland, Price, Vilas, Oneida, Ashland, Iron, Lincoln, Langlade, Forrest and Florence.

One of the goals of this grant is to increase the availability, accessibility and capacity of interdisciplinary diagnostic services through current clinic support and continuing medical education and with clinic development in these Counties.

Collaborating with the Greater Wisconsin Chapter, physicians are identified who have an interest in dementia care and community organizations are partnered to develop dementia diagnostic clinics. These physicians as well as the other clinic staff persons are trained by faculty at the University of Wisconsin Memory Assessment Clinic in the multidisciplinary model of diagnosis.

Local physicians from the counties served by this grant will also have the opportunity to learn about the need for early diagnosis and treatment through educational programs throughout the region as well as distance learning through virtual grand rounds developed with the collaboration of the Northern Area Health Education Center and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Dementia Care Leaders Intensives will be implemented in 3 sites to identify and empower local persons to collaborate with other persons and organizations in their communities, the WAI and the Alzheimer’s Association Chapter to develop and/or enhance services for persons with dementia and their caregivers.

Please contact Barbara Lawrence at the WAI, 608-829-3302 or blawrence@wisc.edu for more information on the Rural Health Outreach Grant.