Caring for Seniors Foundation receives Alzheimer’s Association grant

ALBANY — Caring for Seniors Foundation has been awarded a $250,026 grant from the Alzheimer’s Association Center for Dementia Respite Innovation to enhance the quality and availability of dementia-specific respite care for people living with dementia and their caregivers in Albany.

Caring for Seniors Foundation is one of 21 recipients chosen to receive grant funding from nearly 200 applicants across the country. Funds will be used to provide innovative adult day care mobile respite care that will deliver daytime respite care and dementia-specific services to underserved communities in Dougherty County. The aim to address the county’s significant unmet needs for respite care services by partnering with Innovative Senior Solutions Adult Day Care and five churches or religious organizations.

“Caring for Seniors Foundation is excited to be included in this elite group of community-based service providers,” Eshonda Blue, the agency’s president, said. “Caring for someone living with dementia can be overwhelming. This grant will help us provide much-needed dementia-specific respite care and services for people living with dementia and their caregivers living in Albany.”

The adult day care mobile respite care program is highly innovative in delivering services directly to underserved communities through partnerships with faith-based organizations, Area Agency on Aging, Flint River Fresh and the Rosalyn Carter Institute for Caregivers. The adult day care mobile respite care program will be staffed by a highly trained team, including a nurse, caregivers, and volunteers from the church who will provide a comprehensive range of adult care services tailored to the unique needs of each individual.

These services will include oversight and supervision, ensuring that participants receive the necessary support to maintain their dignity and quality of life. Additionally, the program will offer engaging activities designed to stimulate cognitive function, promote socialization, and enhance overall well-being. These activities may include music therapy, art classes, gentle exercise programs, and reminiscence therapy, all of which have been shown to affect individuals living with dementia positively.

To ensure the health and safety of program participants, the adult day care mobile respite care team will also monitor the nurse’s health status and medication management. Caregivers will be trained to recognize and respond to changes in participants’ health conditions and will work closely with family members and health care providers to ensure that any necessary interventions are promptly implemented. Furthermore, the program will offer much-needed respite and support for family caregivers, including educational resources on dementia care, coping strategies, and self-care techniques.

In conjunction with the grant, Caring for Seniors Foundation also will receive online training and ongoing technical assistance from the CDRI to ensure respite services are dementia-capable and to support sustainability. The CDRI also will collect data and evaluate the impact of these innovative projects from all grant recipients to inform public policy.

“We congratulate Caring for Seniors Foundation on its grant and look forward to working with its team to help enhance respite care services for local dementia caregivers,” Sam Fazio, the senior director for psychosocial research and quality care for the Alzheimer’s Association, said. “We intend to gain insights from each respite program we fund, ultimately developing a catalog of programs, tools and resources that will be easily accessible to interested caregivers and care providers.”

The Alzheimer’s Association created the CDRI earlier this year after receiving a $25 million grant from the Administration for Community Living, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Over the next five years, the CDRI will provide $25 million in grant funding to local respite providers and organizations to enhance the quality and availability of respite care nationwide. Visit alz.org/cdri.

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