Natives Engaged in Alzheimer’s Research (NEAR) Research Project 1 (RP1): INdians Transforming Alzheimer’s Care Training (INTACT)

Status: Current

Grant Start: 08/01/2021

Grant End: 04/30/2026

INTACT

INdians Transforming Alzheimer’s Care Training

The rapid growth of elderly American Indian and Alaska Native populations signals an increasing number of Native Elders at risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. With an emphasis on timely diagnosis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has called for more research and resources to offer Native Elders compassionate, culturally-appropriate, and scientifically-based care.

NEAR Links

Most American Indian and Alaska Native Elders receive their healthcare from primary care physicians, who often lack the training and resources needed to diagnose and manage Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. To help equip these primary care physicians with the necessary tools, we have partnered with more than 20 urban and rural clinics serving American Indian and Alaska Native people on “INdians Transforming Alzheimer’s Care Training” (INTACT), a program developed to improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and quality of care for these populations. Through this collaborative effort, we will assess the effectiveness of our culturally-informed training for primary care providers and “dementia-friendly clinic” program.

Our goals for INTACT are to:

1 Adapt INTACT for use in urban and rural clinics serving American Indian and Alaska Native people.
2 Improve primary care physician knowledge of ADRD, care confidence, and practice behavior.
3 Improve the effectiveness of clinics to diagnose ADRD and provide patients with better quality of care.

INTACT will be one of several programs that partner with clinics to provide trainings to primary care physicians as they work to improve care for elderly populations with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Currently this is the only training and education program designed specifically to care for American Indian and Alaska Native Elder populations.

This project was developed by experts in aging health who work with Native communities, in consultation with healthcare providers who serve American Indian and Alaska Native populations. It is based at the University of Washington Cognition in Primary Care program.

USA map to show locations of NEAR satellite Centers

Across the country, INTACT is dedicated to provide:

1) A collaborative program, partnering with primary care physicians at clinics serving American Indian and Alaska Native populations, meant to improve a) Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias diagnoses; and b) Quality of care for American Indian and Alaska Native people.

2) A culturally-appropriate adaptation of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias educational materials for American Indian and Alaska Native families.

INTACT News

Patient and Provider Focus Groups

The INdians Transforming Alzheimer’s Care Treatment (INTACT) team has completed patient and provider focus groups which provided feedback on how to adapt Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias patient and caregiver educational material from the Dementia […]
View All INTACT News

Funding Sponsors

  • Federal - National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Communities Involved

  • Tribal communities

IREACH Programs

Team Member(s)

Heath Research Initiatives

  • American Indian and Alaska Native

Associated Projects