VICE-CHAIRWOMAN DIANNE JACOB

San Diego County Board of Supervisors

Contact: Steve Schmidt, 619-206-9108, steve.schmidt@sdcounty.ca.gov

NEWS RELEASE
10/18/16

COUNTY AWARDED $1M GRANT TO BOOST ALZHEIMERS CARE

The Alzheimers Project, the county-led effort to combat the regions third leading
cause of death, has been awarded a $1 million federal grant to boost patient and family
services.
The grant money will also be used to bolster training for social workers who assist
Alzheimers caregivers and to better identify those with the disease and other forms of
dementia.
Families dealing with Alzheimers are often under a lot of stress and they need all
the assistance we can give them. These federal funds will help us do that, said county
Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who led the creation of The Alzheimers Project in 2014. The
grant is the latest breakthrough in our efforts to tackle a disease that is nearing
epidemic levels in San Diego.
County Aging & Independence Services will oversee the grant-funded improvements,
with assistance from Alzheimers San Diego.
Both are lead partners in The Alzheimers Project, along with Jacob, San Diego
Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the regions top health care systems and research
institutions.
Alzheimers can be devastating on families and caregivers, which is why grants that
allow us to provide additional services and care are so important, Mayor Faulconer
said. This grant will help us improve care for patients and lift the spirits of those who
care for them. It inspires San Diego's continued momentum toward addressing the
Alzheimers epidemic and finding a cure.
The project was created to accelerate the local search for a cure and to boost care
and clinical services for the 62,000 San Diego County residents with the disease.
Details on the initiative can be found on its new website -- www.sdalzheimersproject.org
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At Alzheimers San Diego we are committed to providing free care, support and
resources for the thousands of San Diegans suffering from Alzheimers or another
dementia and those who love and care for them, said Mary Ball, the organizations
president and CEO. Through strong local partnership and the leadership of Mayor
Kevin Faulconer, Supervisor Dianne Jacob and San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore,
together, we are making great progress in improving care and advancing critical local
research for cure. However, as the number of those affected is skyrocketing, there is
still much work to be done.
The $1 million grant was awarded by the Administration on Aging, part of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Under the grant, Aging & Independence Services will develop a case management
program to better serve dementia patients and will improve the ability of social workers
to connect patients with resources. It also plans to expand respite services for family
caregivers.
Since the creation of The Alzheimers Project in 2014, it has:
Developed the regions first standards for the screening and management of
dementia. These standards are being made available to 3,500 local primary care
doctors to help them diagnose and assist Alzheimers patients.
Strengthened the safety net for those with dementia, through improvements in the
Sheriffs Departments Take Me Home program and the regions missing persons alert
system.
Launched Collaboration4Cure, a research incubator on Torrey Pines Mesa, to help
pave the way to a cure. Alzheimers San Diego is working with San Diegos best and
brightest brain researchers on the initiative.
Teamed up with the regions largest public universities to boost training for the next
generation of geriatric health care workers, with the help of a $2.5 million federal grant
awarded to San Diego State University.

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