Dementia Capable Virginia

Let's Get Started (5 min, 26 sec)

1. Demystifying Dementia (7 min, 38 sec)

2. Sharing the Diagnosis (9 min, 9 sec)

3. Providing Guidance (10 min, 4 sec)

4. Communicating (9 min, 40 sec)

5. More than Meds (9 min, 5 sec)

Clinical Provider Practice Tool

Walk through dementia screening, diagnostic work-up and management. Includes a discussion around disclosing a dementia diagnosis.

After a Diagnosis

Provide this resource to the patient and family. This will help them think about next steps and connect them with resources and supports available in the community.

Care Coordination Practice Tool

This tool can help your practice coordinate care for those diagnosed with dementia. This tool includes a care plan checklist and stage-by-stage description of dementia progression.

Community Organization Practice Tool

This tool is aimed at organizations and agencies that provide services and supports in the community for people living with dementia, their families and care partners/caregivers.

Virginia No Wrong Door Cognitive Impairment Identification Tool

This tool will help your organization identify people with memory concerns during intake in order to provide them with appropriate referrals, services and supports.

CLINICAL TRIAL RECRUITMENT TOOLS

Alzheimer’s & Dementia Outreach, Recruitment & Engagement Resources (ADORE)

Hosted by the NIA, this is a repository of resources to support the recruitment and retention of participants into clinical trials and studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Recruiting Older Adults into Research (ROAR) Toolkit—in English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.  Toolkit includes easy-to-use, customizable materials that feature information on:

• Why research is important to healthy aging
• What volunteers need to know about research studies
• How older adults can make a difference by participating
• Easy steps to take

Below is some important information for people considering taking part in research:

1. Participating in Alzheimer’s Research: For Yourself and Future Generations, a booklet from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, explores:
   • how to find Alzheimer’s and related studies that might be right for you
   • the benefits and potential risks to consider
   • what happens when you join a trial or study
   • how safety is protected
   • questions to ask
2. Alzheimers.gov Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia
3. National Institute on Aging: Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center
4. To find and sign up to participate in clinical trials, please visit:
   • Alzheimers.gov Find Clinical Trials
   • Recruiting Older Adults into Research (ROAR)
   • Alzheimer’s Association: TrialMatch
   • Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry
   • Antidote
   • Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation
   • Caregiver Action Network

THE INTERNATIONAL ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RESEARCH PORTFOLIO (IADRP)

The International Alzheimer’s Disease Research Portfolio (IADRP) database lists research efforts supported by public and private organizations in the US and internationally.  All projects are categorized using the Common Alzheimer’s Disease Research Ontology or CADRO. Launched in 2010 as a joint collaboration between the National Institute on Aging (NIH) and the Alzheimer’s Association, IADRP enables users the ability to assess the portfolios of major organizations (currently 23) for areas of overlap as well as areas of opportunities in which to collaborate and coordinate in a collective effort to advance AD research. To access the IADRP, please visit: https://iadrp.nia.nih.gov/.

Since 1982, Virginia’s General Assembly has been supporting dementia research in the Commonwealth through the Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund(ARDRAF) administered by the Virginia Center on Aging.  You can also access information about these studies through the IADRP. To do this, use the “Funding Organization Name” Search category in the Quick Search box and select “State of Virginia”.

Commonwealth Health Research Board

In 1997, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed an act establishing the Commonwealth Health Research Board [CHRB or Board] and Commonwealth Health Research Fund [CHRF] to provide financial support for human health research in the Commonwealth. The Boards’ primary responsibility is to make grants for human health research, especially for those efforts that have the potential of maximizing human health benefits for citizens of the Commonwealth.

Research efforts eligible for support by the Board include traditional medical and biomedical research relating to the causes and cures of diseases as well as research related to health services and the delivery of health care. Since its inception, the CHRB has made 215 grant awards totaling approximately $17.8 million in grant funding to institutions of higher education and other not-for-profit or nonprofit organizations that conduct health or health-related research in Virginia.

The authority to invest and manage the assets of the CHRF is delegated to the Virginia Retirement System. The value of the CHRF as of March 31, 2018 was $38.8 million. Grants can be made to state agencies and state-supported institutions of higher education in Virginia, and nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations located in Virginia. The Board solicits proposals annually for research funding to being in July of each year. Currently, awards can be made for either one or two years with a maximum award of $100,000 per year. Awardees are required to provide 33% of the requested amount as matching funds.

Interested researchers are encouraged to look at the CHRB website (www.chrb.org) for more detailed information regarding grant awards and the annual grant process.  Grant applicants are required to comply with the CHRB Grant Guidelines and the CHRB Policies and Procedures which govern the CHRB’s grant application, review, selection, award, reporting and other post-award requirements and procedures.  These documents are updated each year by July 1 and posted to the CHRB website.

Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (Virginia Catalyst)

The Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC) or “the catalyst” (created in 2013) is funded by the General Assembly and Virginia’s major universities. Grants of $200,000 to $800,000 are awarded “to accelerate translational research and commercialization of breakthrough technologies in the life sciences”.

More information can be found here.

Virginia’s Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund (ARDRAF)

The Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund (ARDRAF) is intended to increase public understanding about how dementing illnesses affect individuals, families, caregivers, and society; support pilot projects from a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines; foster the application of knowledge about Alzheimer’s and related diseases; investigate the impact of these conditions on the Commonwealth of Virginia; and determine appropriate public policy.

The Virginia Center on Aging (VCoA) has supervised solicitation of applications, awarding competitive grants since 1982. The sizes of the awards vary, but are limited to $45,000.

For more information, or to receive the annual call for proposals, contact Dr. Constance L. Coogle at (804) 828-1525 or e-mail at ccoogle@vcu.edu.

Click below for abstracts and summaries of final reports for all projects awarded funds in that year.