The State Alzheimer's Research Support Center (StARS)

University Of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract-Overall Coordinated and integrated care programs for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease related dementias (AD/ADRD) and their family caregivers are growing. These models of care integrate disease care management, provide multidisciplinary care planning, and navigate healthcare and social service systems for persons living with dementia and their caregivers. However, knowledge of these services’ effectiveness is limited due to the lack of high-quality data at the state and sub-state levels, which hampers evaluation of policies that support integrated/coordinated dementia care services. Lack of data also inhibits opportunities to adapt and scale integrated/coordinated dementia care services within and across states, particularly to underserved communities. The State Alzheimer’s Research Support Center (StARS) will guide states through partnership, engagement, and 1-year pilot projects to build collaborations and create a shared data infrastructure to advance the accessibility, affordability, and effectiveness of dementia care services across the United States. Guided by the National Institute on Aging Health Disparities Research Framework, the specific aims are as follows: 1) to establish partnerships to identify existing coordinated/integrated dementia care services and available data sources within states; 2) to support 16 dementia care pilot projects; 3) to build a within- and across state data infrastructure to evaluate dementia care services and policies; and 4) to implement a multifaceted dissemination strategy to promote best practices in the identification, linking, and sharing of dementia care data. The State Alzheimer’s Research Support Center will create a national data infrastructure that enable states and all communities to better understand dementia care services’ effects on key care transitions, such as hospitalization readmissions, nursing home admission, home health care, as well as the health and well-being of people living with dementia and their caregivers. This infrastructure will also facilitate the examination of policy variations and changes on dementia care services within and across states. The partnership building, pilot project support, and data sharing infrastructure of StARS will ultimately result in greater dissemination of integrated/coordinated dementia care services that yield positive outcomes for people with dementia and care partners living in various regions and underrepresented communities.