Health Department in Sarasota tapped to participate in effort to address dementia

Sep. 29—SARASOTA COUNTY — The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County is one of eight local health departments that will participate in an effort organized by the National Association of County and City Health Departments and the Alzheimer's Association to address dementia.

Peter Holtgrave, senior director of Public Health Infrastructure and Systems for the National Associations of County and City Health Officials, said via email that the purpose of the funding, which can be as much as $48,000, is to help the local health departments "build their public health workforce capacity working with community partners to address Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in their jurisdictions, using the Alzheimer's Association's Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) Roadmap."

The hope is that health departments, which are essentially chief community health strategists, can get agencies and nonprofits to work together.

Each health department designates a staff person to serve as a Healthy Brain Initiative strategist to help deal with, among other things, early detection, diagnosis, or management of Alzheimer's and caregiver support.

"We are honored to be selected as part of this inaugural group," Chuck Henry, the health officer for the Florida Department of Health'sSarasota County office, said in a prepared statement. "With more than 37% of our population 65 years of age or older, Sarasota County is uniquely positioned to advance public health work among our older adults."

Beth Kregenow, the Health Planning, Education and Promotion Program Administrator for the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, said via email that specific uses of grant funds here should become clearer after a kickoff meeting Thursday afternoon.

In general the grant will be used to fund an assessment and training and to implement strategies in the Healthy Brain Initiative road map.

The current Healthy Brain Initiative Roadmap is the third in a series that was first published in 2007. Technically it covers 2018 to 2023.

Among the action items is an assurance that emergency preparedness plans and emergency response address the special needs of people with dementia and their caregivers.

The initiative is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alzheimer's Association.

The National Association of County and City Health Departments represents 3,000 local county health departments. In addition to Sarasota County, the Florida Department of Health in Nassau County was also chosen for the program, along with public health departments in California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio and Washington.

"The addition of these new Strategists will improve health outcomes and optimize the health and well-being of people living with dementia and their caregivers," Matthew Baumgart, vice president of Health Policy, Alzheimer's Association, said in a prepared statement.

—To learn more about the Alzheimer's Association visit https://www/alz.org or call the 24/7 helpline at 1-800-272-3900.

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com.

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