Alzheimer's Association offers $50,000 grants for Tribal health programs' dementia work

The Alzheimer's Association opened applications Oct. 5 for grants of $50,000 each to as many as eight Tribally-led health programs and urban Indian health organizations, to name a part-time staff member for dementia work. Applications for the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map Champion Program close Nov. 10, according to the program page.

Each winner must designate an existing employee with public health knowledge who can give at least 20% of their time to the role. That Champion picks one focus: risk reduction, early detection and diagnosis, or dementia caregiving. Winners also get education, peer support and technical assistance.

Organizations that already took part in the Champion Program or its companion Strategist Program can't apply. That excludes the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, one of 16 awardees the association named in January. The association has funded 67 local health departments and Tribal health organizations since 2021.

The association runs the program with the American Indian Public Health Resource Center at North Dakota State University, supported by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Award notices go out Nov. 30, and the work runs from January through September 2027.

Champions work from the HBI Road Map for American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples, a framework of 13 public health strategies. Its case studies include the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island and the Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium.

The state plan for senior services estimates dementia affects 10% of Alaskans over 65.