Healthy North Central Texas: equipping community health workers to conduct dementia and depression screens and provide dementia-capable direct services - Healthy North Central Texas (HNCT) will equip community health workers (CHWs) with the knowledge and skills to serve people living with dementia (PLwD) and their informal family caregivers (FCs). More specifically, it will mobilize CHWs to conduct dementia screens of persons who have concerns about cognitive abilities, make referrals for accurate diagnosis, screen PLwD and FCs for depression, and engage PLwD and FCs in dementia-capable counseling. HNCT’s goal is to develop and strengthen a person-centered workforce capable of increasing the quality and quantity of dementia services, allowing persons living with dementia (PLwD) to optimize quality of life and community tenure. Objectives are to: (1) adapt the Program for Encouraging Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS) for PLwD/FCs; (2) develop and implement a training program for CHWs that equips them to provide dementia-capable information, referral, and direct services to PLwD/FCs; (3) utilize CHWs to conduct dementia screens of 500 PLwD/FCs; (4) refer all PLwD/FCs with positive results for accurate dementia diagnosis; (5) conduct depression screens of 300 PLwD/FCs; and (6) provide PEARLS dementia-specific counseling to 125 PLwD/FCs. Anticipated outcomes include: (1) increase in CHW’s knowledge, skills, and confidence in working with PLwD and FCs; (2) increase in the number of clients receiving dementia screening, depression screening, and accurate diagnoses; (3) improvement in PLwDs’/FCs’ self-efficacy in overcoming challenges living with cognitive decline and decrease in severity of depression among PLwD/FCs participating in the adapted PEARLS program. Expected work products include PEARLS adaptations, CHW supplemental curricula, established protocol for dementia and depression screens and subsequent referrals for clinical and social services, outreach materials, evaluation report, and final program report.
