NVEADRC Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core (OREC)

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NVEADRC OUTREACH, RECRUITMENT ENGAGEMENT CORE SUMMARY Our Nevada Exploratory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (NVEADRC) aims at reducing dementia care disparities in rural communities and developing an innovative research program to investigate the possible differences in disease trajectory of rural patients suffering Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease related dementia (ADRD). Prior research has identified two major issues with regards to dementia care in rural populations. First is a lack of skills by rural medical professionals to diagnose and manage dementia due to both a lack of proper medical training, and a lack of adherence to practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of AD/ADRD. Because the first providers to diagnose and care for dementia in rural areas are primary care providers (PCP), there is an urgent necessity to provide improved and continuous education in AD/ADRD to answer PCPs’ older patients needs with regards to the detection and/or management of dementia. The second issue is a general lack of knowledge about dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders (NDD) in rural populations. In addition, because of the low population density, lack of infrastructures, weather conditions, and scarcity of community activities, there is a higher level of social isolation in rural communities, which is known to be a risk factor for dementia in older individuals. To address this complex social topic of dementia care in rural populations and to make our ambitious project successful in the long-term, we have decided to foster a robust Outreach, Recruitment Engagement Core (OREC) from the genesis of the NVEADRC. OREC will comprise investigators from both the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas (LRCBH) and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). There are three main goals pursued by the OREC. In Aim 1, OREC will use its technology and network of medical collaborators to educate rural medical professionals on dementia. In Aim 2, OREC intends to increase NDD awareness in rural communities by leveraging statewide initiatives, community action groups, community/tribe/religious leadership, and associations (e.g. Alzheimer’s Association) to improve the knowledge of the general population on dementia. This will be accomplished via a combination of seminars, lectures, websites, and notebooks written in layman terms targeting rural populations. OREC will also use these communication vessels to invite individuals to participate in our rural research cohort. In Aim 3, OREC will utilize its didactic experience to supervise the mentoring of junior scientists who have an interest in investigating rural dementia and healthcare disparities. These junior investigators will attend at least one rural community outreach event offered by OREC to become aware of the interests, concerns, and needs of rural populations in term of dementia care. We anticipate that our outreach efforts targeting rural communities will reduce stigma and enable dementia patients to fully engage within their communities, while also connecting families living with dementia to information, support, and services as early as possible, thus, improving quality of life.