PROJECT SUMMARY. The overall purpose of the Oregon Healthy Brain Initiative (OHBI) is to build capacity of Oregon’s public health system to address Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) through cross-sector coordination and strategic alignment of ADRD risk reduction, early diagnosis, prevention and management of comorbidities, and caregiver health.
Informed by CDC’s HBI State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia: the 2018-2023 Road Map (RM), OHBI will reinvigorate historical initiatives and expand partnerships to expand capacity across public health; behavioral health; aging, people with disabilities, and long-term care; research and academia, and equity focused and community-based organizations to increase awareness of ADRD and improve health outcomes for populations disproportionately affected by ADRD.
OHBI’s overall project outcomes include:
• Increasing engagement of local, regional, and statewide cross sector partners in promoting and supporting primary, secondary, and tertiary ADRD prevention and caregiver health.
• Increasing community engagement and co-developing strategies that center community voice and address equity and the social determinants of health.
• Sustaining, expanding, and coordinating data and evaluation systems across sectors related to ADRD and caregiver health.
• Increasing awareness and understanding of ADRD topics through ADRD and caregiver health messaging and communication materials.
• Increasing community-clinical linkages across health care and other systems.
• Aligning the State Plan on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Oregon (SPADO) Steering Committee and other healthy aging partnerships toward shared strategic goals.
OHBI will integrate ADRD programs, partnerships, policy initiatives, and funding investments into Oregon’s well established chronic disease prevention infrastructure. Oregon will prioritize members of the Oregon Health Plan (OHP), other low-income Oregonians, and communities experiencing chronic disease related health inequities (AI/AN, communities of color, people with developmental, intellectual, and other disabilities, LGBTQ2SIA+, and people experiencing poor mental health/behavioral health issues).
This work will be advanced through leveraging OHA’s equity, outreach and community engagement networks and building cross-sector commitment to advancing priority strategies in the updated 2025 State Plan on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Oregon (SPADO). Numerous partners are contributing to this collaborative effort, including include Oregon Department of Human Services-Aging & People with Disabilities; Alzheimer’s Association of Oregon Southwest & Washington Chapter; Area Agencies on Aging; Aging & Disability Resource Connection; Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU)-Layton Center; Institute on Aging at Portland State University; Oregon State University’s (OSU) Healthy Aging and Gerontology Research Center and OSU Extension; local public health authorities; the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB); and other tribal serving organizations.
