UAF gets federal award to run Alaska Native elders resource center

Tribal elder-service programs in Alaska will get training and technical assistance, meaning hands-on help and expert advice, in dementia caregiving, disaster preparedness and healthy aging under a new federal award. The University of Alaska Fairbanks will run the National Resource Center for Alaska Native Elders under a $215,343 cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. In a cooperative agreement, the agency stays substantially involved in the work.

The Administration on Aging's funding notice, which closed to applications July 27, set $215,343 as the amount per 12-month budget period and planned three of them. Funding after the first year depends on Congress appropriating money and on the project's progress. The notice also requires the recipient to cover 25% of total project cost.

The award record lists a project period of Sept. 30, 2026, through Sept. 29, 2029.

The work targets Title VI programs, the federally funded tribal programs that serve elders and family caregivers. Alaska has 43 Title VI grantees, according to the Alaska State Plan for Senior Services, which identifies dementia-care training, caregiver support and emergency planning as needs for older Alaskans and their caregivers.

The center plans to produce Alaska Native Disaster PrepWise toolkits for emergency planning, a statewide Alaska Title VI network guide, a Title VI needs assessment survey, an advisory committee, expanded Savvy Caregiver training for family dementia caregivers, trainings for Title VI program staff and an online discussion portal. Its goals are to increase awareness of and access to Title VI services, improve understanding of aging in Alaska, and strengthen support for informal caregivers.

Elders, families and Title VI directors will help set priorities. The center will gather information through interviews, focus groups, surveys and partner consultations before turning findings into products.

The agency also awarded Tlingit & Haida $300,000, the first year of a planned three-year effort, to build a dementia-capable service system for tribal elders and family caregivers in Southeast Alaska.