Your primary care practice staff could receive more training to deliver high-quality dementia care as part of next steps in the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease.
 
HHS and its partners plan to develop training curriculum and best interventions for reducing avoidable hospitalizations and emergency department use among patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a 2013 update on the plan.
 
HHS also plans to improve detection of elder abuse and neglect and provide an expanded dementia capability toolkit for state and local health networks, the update states.
 
HHS has made progress toward preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease by raising awareness through www.alzheimers.gov; hosting a conference of Alzheimer’s experts; funding two new clinical trials, genetics sequencing and new cellular models; and issuing grants for training of more than 10,000 health care providers on topics such as dementia diagnosis and effective behavior management for patients with dementia, according to the update.
 
But some of the progress could be curtailed by sequestration’s budget cuts. Because of the across-the-board spending cuts, “about five in six grant applications currently aren’t funded” and some clinical trials that would capitalize on advances have been cut, says a June 9 Bloomberg column.