Faculty and learners from health professions across the U.S. will soon have access to an innovative curriculum addressing best practices in caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
The Texas Department of State Health Services awarded a $750,000 grant to a University of Texas at Austin team developing an innovative education and training program focused on early detection of dementia, caregiver support and brain health. The effort is led by Alyssa Aguirre, LCSW, assistant director of dementia care transformation in the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical School, and Jung Kwak, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Nursing.
“Offering a free, interactive curriculum aimed at improving dementia education and knowledge from an interprofessional lens is imperative to the future of dementia care,” Aguirre says.
The project, titled “Interprofessional Curriculum Approach to Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias,” equips the next generation of providers with skills to address Alzheimer’s and other dementias through facilitator guides, videos and classroom activities for health care students.
“The curriculum will address issues of brain health, risk reduction, early detection and treatment as well as care planning, caregiving and cultural diversity,” Kwak says. “In the long term, our goal is to advance equitable care and improve outcomes for persons living with dementia and their caregivers.”
Aguirre and Kwak are collaborating on the effort with the University’s Center for Health Interprofessional Practice and Education, which brings students, faculty and practitioners across health programs together and leads interprofessional training programs locally and nationally.
“Each module will offer learning outcomes, competencies and teaching aides aimed at training health care professionals to learn about, with and from each other,” says Veronica Young, Pharm.D., the center’s director. “We are excited to partner in this important effort to strengthen interprofessional collaborative practice and advance team-based learning.”