CDC selects UCSF-led center to improve dementia care nationwide

The University of California, San Francisco has received nearly $5 million in federal funding to establish a nationwide center that will help health care organizations, public health agencies and communities implement evidence-based approaches to detecting and managing dementia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention selected UCSF as one of four Public Health Centers of Excellence for the initiative, making it the only designated center on the West Coast. Housed within the UCSF School of Nursing’s Institute for Health & Aging, the new Brain Health Action, Community Engagement, and Outreach Network, or BEACON, is intended to connect research on dementia with practical tools, workforce support, training and technical assistance.

BEACON is a public-health infrastructure and implementation program rather than a clinical trial, and the announcement does not report improved patient outcomes or demonstrate that the center will alter the course of dementia. Its scope is national and its intended beneficiaries include health systems, public health agencies, community organizations, direct care workers, home care providers, family caregivers and people living with dementia. The project also draws on expertise from across UCSF. Its central objective is to address persistent gaps between evidence and practice, including difficulties recognizing cognitive changes early and linking people with appropriate services after those changes are identified.

Jarmin Yeh, an associate professor at the UCSF School of Nursing’s Institute for Health & Aging, described early detection as a potential route to better care and support while emphasizing that proven approaches must reach the populations that need them. BEACON will translate available evidence into practical resources and support real-world implementation. The network is also expected to strengthen the workforce that assists people living with dementia, with particular attention to direct care workers, home care providers and family caregivers. Susie Welty, a UCSF academic program manager, said supporting people with dementia also means supporting the people who care for them, a role in which caregivers may be well positioned to notice cognitive changes, help with daily needs and support quality of life.

Funding comes through the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, which directs the CDC to strengthen the nation’s public health infrastructure. The other three Public Health Centers of Excellence are not identified in the announcement. Although the federal award is nearly $5 million, the source does not provide a detailed budget, evaluation design, implementation schedule or outcome targets for BEACON. It likewise does not report the comparative effectiveness of the center, the reach of its planned programs or the effects of its activities on dementia detection, service referrals, caregiver burden or health outcomes. Those elements would need to be established through subsequent implementation and evaluation. For now, the reported achievement is the creation of a UCSF-based, CDC-supported network designed to help evidence-based dementia care move from research settings into health care and community practice across the United States.

Subject of Research: A CDC-funded public health center for implementing evidence-based dementia detection, care and caregiver support nationwide.

Article Title: UCSF chosen as CDC Center of Excellence to advance dementia care

Article References: UCSF chosen as CDC Center of Excellence to advance dementia care. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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Keywords: UCSF, dementia care, CDC, BEACON, public health, early detection, caregiver support, workforce training, chosen, Center, Excellence, advance