Federal Grant to Benefit Alzheimer & Patients in Tulsa/Osage Counties

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- Oklahoma was one of only eight states to receive a new federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund state Alzheimer’s programs. Oklahoma will receive more than $338,000 to develop an in-home respite and companion visitation and support program in Tulsa and Osage counties.
"Statistics show that 25 percent of people older than 85 years of age will suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia," said Sue Holloway, R.N., Oklahoma Department of Human Services Alzheimer’s Project Director. "We have an increasing elderly population that makes this disease an ever growing problem that more and more families will have to deal with."

The program is scheduled to run for the next three years, with grants being awarded each year. The program will provide direct home respite and community based services targeted to African-American, Native American and rurally isolated populations.

The Alzheimer’s Association will partner with Tulsa Community College to train students in the school’s geriatric technology program to deliver specialized dementia care. Those graduating from the program will provide in-home respite care in Tulsa and Osage counties, as well as supervised care at Life Senior Services Adult Day Care in Tulsa, formerly Tulsa Senior Services, Life Senior Services in Broken Arrow and OASIS Adult Day Care in Tulsa.

"The first year we hope to train 20 care providers to service 50 Alzheimer’s patients and their families," said Holloway. "We will also be working with the Alzheimer’s Association Oklahoma/Western Arkansas Chapter to do public outreach and education to help raise awareness of both Alzheimer’s and this program."

Holloway added, "The stress on families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s is great. Not only the emotional stress of seeing loved ones slip away, but the mental and physical stress of providing care. Caregivers can feel isolated and alone in dealing with this, and this stress takes its toll on the patients as well."

To learn more about this program, contact Sue Holloway at (918) 485-4543, or the Alzheimer’s Association Oklahoma/Western Arkansas Chapter at (918) 481-7741. To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, visit the Alzheimer’s Association website at www.alz.org/ (Link opens in new window.)

###