Federal Grant Bolsters LSU’s Charge to Improve Dementia Care for Louisiana’s Underserved Communities

We know that age, family history, genetics, and previous head injury are significant factors irrespective of region. But, there are plenty of factors that point directly to higher rates of ADRD in our target region.

Louisiana and Mississippi are among the top states for poor diets, physical inactivity, low education levels, and medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, all of which are contributing factors to ADRD. Also, environmental conditions such as air pollution increase ADRD risk. Louisiana and Mississippi sit in the middle of the pack for state air quality levels.

We provide monthly ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) trainings, which traditionally target physicians and other advanced practice providers. But we have also seen the number of nurses and social workers who attend our ECHOs steadily increasing.

Our ECHOs are one-hour virtual sessions held at 8 a.m. to try to accommodate the schedules of busy health care providers. These sessions include an educational piece followed by discussion of a case study related to the educational topic.

In addition to ECHO, we host four live dementia trainings each year: the Alzheimer’s Services Educational Conference, and three other trainings, all virtual (online), held at noon to allow providers to join during their lunch break.

One event, which we’ve repeated every year since it’s well-received, is the multidisciplinary ADRD panel. A panel of ADRD experts including a physician, nurse, social worker, and family caregiver answer questions from the audience to improve ADRD-friendly practice.

Another of these lunch events will feature speakers from National Council of Dementia Minds, so participants can learn directly from individuals living with ADRD.

Our LAMS-GWEP team represents a mutually beneficial, collaborative partnership among the entities below. Each partnership is critical to meeting our interdisciplinary goals, specifically in medicine, nursing, and social work.

Given that primary care settings offer integrated care, our LAMS-GWEP trainings must address ADRD-friendly health practices among the aforesaid professional disciplines. The academic partnerships reflect our geographic target areas in Louisiana and Mississippi.

• LSU Healthy Aging Research Center
• LSU School of Social Work
• LSU Social Research & Evaluation Center
• Ochsner Health System
• Chamberlain University College of Nursing
• Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area
• University of Southern Mississippi School of Social Work

We are beginning our first year of the five-year LAMS-GWEP cycle. For the previous five years, my team successfully managed Louisiana-GWEP, again financially supported by HRSA. With LA-GWEP, we saw viable impact in several ways, including but not limited to the following:

• Successfully completed all requirements and met all thresholds to earn the prestigious, national recognition of Age-Friendly Health System for Ochsner Health main campus medical center in Jefferson, Louisiana. This recognition is a collaboration from American Geriatrics Society, American Hospital Association, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
• Instituted the first ADRD-focused curriculum requirement for medical students in the University of Queensland (Australia) – Ochsner MD Program.
• Instituted the first ADRD-focused curriculum requirement for nursing students in the Chamberlain University (New Orleans) Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.
• Instituted and financially supported GWEP Fellows at Ochsner and Chamberlain. These fellows will eventually be providers who have completed specialized ADRD training.
• Supported specialized education and training for LA-GWEP medical co-investigator and Ochsner physician Dr. KJ Carstarphen in the American Hospital Association’s Next Generation Leadership Fellows Program.

I see a trend — and hopefully, it’ll continue — on a focus from research funders, private and public, on social determinants of health. As defined by the CDC and National Institutes of Health, these social determinants, including disparities in economic stability, education, and health care access, can have profound effect on health and wellbeing among vulnerable populations. 
We need much more research to understand social determinants’ influence on persons diagnosed with ADRD and their care partners, especially in regions like Louisiana and the Deep South, where these disparities are profoundly apparent. 
My HARC team intends to meet this need, using evidence-informed research to advocate for policy and program changes in health care systems.

Louisiana is my home. I love my state and my Cajun heritage. I am an LSU alum. As I neared completion of my PhD work at UGA, I promised my wife (Manship Senior Instructor Sadie Wilks, also a Louisiana native) that we would jump at the chance to return to LSU. 
While working at Appalachian State University, the opportunity presented itself in early spring 2006, and I was fortunate to join the LSU School of Social Work faculty later that fall.
I have always dreamed of leading a research center dedicated to healthy aging. After years of building a national funding and scholarship record, I was approached by CHSE Dean Roland Mitchell, to whom I am immensely grateful, with the opportunity and support from the college to develop such a center. 
I utilized the established and funded LA-GWEP project as the cornerstone of HARC. The more recent success of LAMS-GWEP has bolstered my goals of earning Center of Excellence status and national reputation for HARC. 
I am blessed to work alongside a wonderful team of LSU scholars, including SSW colleagues Dr. Laura Ainsworth and Dr. Catherine Lemieux, with evaluation support from SREC Director Dr. Judith Rhodes and her staff.