Effort underway to increase quality of care for Alzheimer’s patients

A project underway at the University of Iowa seeks to improve the care of Alzheimer’s patients in Iowa. Project coordinator Ann Bossen says it’s a four-year effort that includes the agencies and people who provide services to patients with the memory-robbing disease. She says they have specially-trained nurse care managers in four counties to enhance the case management system to see if that helps people who care for Alzheimer’s patients keep the patients home for a longer period of time. The project focuses on the Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and Davenport areas. She says they are looking at the entire process to see where they can help. She says they’re looking at the individual counties to find their strengths and weaknesses and their awareness in dealing with people who have dementia. Bossen says they try to get the entire government system involved. They have an advisory council that includes representatives of all areas of government so they can address things on a legislative level when they find concerns. She says the goal is to improve the overall care provided to patients. She says it’s intended to help individuals live in their community in a safe way, while increasing the knowledge of professional care providers. Bossen says this is a key issue for Iowa as the state ranks second in the population of elders, which she says makes it a growing concern. She says estimates show about 50-percent of people over 85 have some form of dementia. She says those numbers will overwhelm the system if we don’t make some changes. The project is funded through a grant that provides $350,000 yearly from the Administration on Aging.