The GSA KAER Toolkit is intended to support primary care teams in implementing a comprehensive approach to initiating conversations about brain health, detecting and diagnosing dementia, and providing individuals with community-based supports. It includes practical approaches, educational resources, and validated clinical tools that teams can integrate into their workflow. 

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For more details on how to use the KAER Toolkit, click here.

To learn about the recent KAER Toolkit updates, click here.

Support provided by Eli Lilly and Company, Otsuka, Genentech, and Eisai.

This infographic highlights the important role of nutrition in cognitive function as expanded on in the GSA publication, Insights & Implications in Gerontology: The Vital Role of Nutrition in Brain Health. The infographic highlights diets that are associated with improved cognition and decreased risk of dementia and how primary care providers can have conversations with their patients about the impact of diet and nutrition that include identifying and implementing strategies that benefit brain health and overall health and wellness.

Support provided by Haleon.

This Momentum Discussion Webinar reviews the challenges in kickstarting brain health conversations with older adults from diverse and underserved communities, where Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are more prevalent. This conversation focuses on African Americans, Native Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities. The panel offers opportunities and solutions to use the tools and resources in the GSA KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Teams to enhance brain health conversations, drive healthy brain habits, and promote early diagnosis of dementia in these communities.

Support provided by Genentech, Lilly, Otsuka, and Eisai

The Alter program is a nurse-led, dementia-friendly congregation program aimed at empowering African American churches to serve all members, including those living with dementia and their families. Fayron Epps, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, developed the Alter program to increase dementia awareness; develop a supportive, faith-based dementia-friendly infrastructure; and create a community supporting the well-being of African Americans living with dementia and their families. In this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Dr. Epps shares insights into the Alter program and what inspired her to found the program. She also describes key components of the program and discusses the result of 10 years of working in the community and creating a faith network committed to developing dementia-friendly congregations.

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For more information on speakers of this session, visit podbean for details.

Support provided by Genentech, Lilly, Eisai, and Otsuka

This publication explores nutritional choices that have been shown to improve cognition and decrease the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults. Consumption of a healthful diet is a behavioral strategy that can help to prevent the development of dementia as people age. It also reports on the roles of vitamins and minerals in nutrition and brain function and focuses on how to implement person-centered conversations about the impact of diet and nutrition on overall wellness, including brain health. 

Click here to view a scrollable version of this publication.

Support provided by Haleon.

In this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, our guest shares challenges and opportunities around brain health in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. He provides insights into the Healthy Brain Initiative’s Road Map for Indian Country and discusses success stories with indigenous communities addressing dementia issues. Finally, he outlines research questions that need to be answered to successfully address brain health in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

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Additional Resources:

• Greater Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. - Aging and Disability Services
• International Association for Indigenous Aging - Brain Health
• Healthy Brain Initiative - Road Map for Indian Country

This podcast episode is supported by Genetech, Lily, Eisai, and Otsuka.

Addressing Brain Health in Adults With Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities: A Companion to the KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Providers is designed to address the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) who develop dementia. This companion document complements the GSA KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Teams. 

Support provided by Eisai.

Certain groups of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) develop dementia at rates similar to older adults in the general population. However, adults with certain conditions, such as Down syndrome, develop Alzheimer's disease at greater rates. During this Momentum Discussion podcast episode, our guest discusses this issue and provides an overview of unique challenges in assessing for dementia in individuals with I/DD. She discusses strategies that primary care teams and others can use from the GSA publication, Addressing Brain Health in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities: A Companion to the KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Providers, to improve detection of dementia and care and services for adults with I/DD.

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For more information on speakers of this session, visit podbean for details.

This podcast episode is supported by Eisai.

Most individuals with dementia experience behavioral symptoms during their disease trajectory. These symptoms are troubling to the person living with dementia, their care partners, and others such as family members or those living in congregate living settings. In this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Dr. Kalisha Bonds Johnson, a Board-Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Emory Integrated Memory Care, shares her insights into the importance of detecting and addressing behavioral symptoms. She offers general strategies that care partners and others can take when interacting with someone with dementia, and she provides important insights into managing specific troubling behaviors.

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lily, Eisai, and Otsuka.

In this Momentum Discussion podcast episode, Dan Stewart, MSG, Long-Term Care Equality Index program co-lead and associate director of the Aging Equality Project at the HRC Foundation, discusses considerations aimed at ensuring equitable and person-centered care for individuals in the LGBTQ+ community and ensuring LGBTQ+ inclusion in the healthcare. He provides insights into unique challenges around brain health, dementia, and aging for individuals in the LGBTQ+ community and shares key insights into the combined challenges of being LGBTQ+ and having dementia.

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For more information on speakers of this session, visit podbean for details.

This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lily, Eisai, and Otsuka.