Alaska's BOLD Public Health Programs to Address Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias - While national rates of people diagnosed with ADRD are expected to increase, Alaska is exceptional in that it is one of five states with the highest projected increase in its percentage of people with ADRD. By 2030 the number of people with ADRD is likely to have almost doubled compared to current estimates, representing over 3% of Alaska’s population (State of Alaska, Alaska Commission on Aging, 2019). Currently, Alaska is not on track to be able to meet the needs of this growing population. This application for Funding Opportunity CDC-RFA-DP23-0010 Component 2 contains strategies and activities that will address the rising prevalence of Alzheimer’s and related dementias (ADRD) in Alaska by implementing public health infrastructure in partnership with the Alaska Dementia Action Collaborative (ADAC). Specifically, the Alaska Division of Public Health, Section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDPHP) plans to increase the membership and scope of the Alaska Dementia Action Collaborative, increase ADRD data availability and use, increase community-clinical linkages for ADRD and social determinants of health, increase sustainability of ADRD efforts, and increase ADRD knowledge among Alaska Dementia Action Collaborative members, healthcare providers, and the public. The activities in this application will lead to increased early diagnoses, connections to resources, and knowledge of prevention and management tactics statewide and among populations of high burden. Over the 5-year performance period, CDPHP plans to see the following short-term outcomes: increased number and variety of coalition members collaborating on Alaska dementia initiatives; improved quality and comprehensiveness of Alaska ADRD goals across public health domains, ADRD topics, and prevention levels; increased availability of information, tools, resources, and training on ADRD topics; increased availability and use of data to inform, monitor and improve ADRD goal implementation; increased implementation of goals that lead to sustainable ADRD program activities; and increased number of community-clinical linkages among health care systems, public health agencies, and community-based organizations. CDPHP’s intermediate outcomes will include: increased number of ADAC members implementing actions to advance Alaska’s ADRD Strategic Plan; improved implementation of Alaska ADRD goals that are comprehensive across public health domains, ADRD topics, and prevention levels; increased awareness and understanding of ADRD topics among the general public, providers, and other professionals; increased use of ADRD tools and resources among the general public, providers, and other professionals; increased number of Alaska ADRD initiatives that are influenced by available data; increased sustainability of program activities; and increased coordination across health care systems and existing services, public health agencies, and community-based organizations. Long-term outcomes that we hope to see early progress on within the performance period include an increased proportion of older adults with subjective cognitive decline who have discussed their symptoms with a provider and an increased proportion of older adults with dementia, or their caregivers, who are aware of the diagnosis. CDPHP staff and ADAC members look forward to working on these BOLD strategies to improve Alaska’s ADRD data, knowledge, workforce, navigability, and sustainability.
