Resources, Tools and Tips for Supporting Individuals
Living Alone with Dementia

WISE & Healthy Aging, a non-profit, community-based organization serving older adults, their families and caregivers throughout Los Angeles County was the recipient of an Administration for Community Living (ACL) three-year grant in September 2018 to provide community-based services to individuals living alone with dementia as well as to deliver evidence-based/informed dementia capability training for professionals and lay individuals (caregivers).

Project Title:

WISE & Healthy Aging: Community-Based Training and Intervention for Individuals at High Risk of/with Dementia and their Caregivers (ACL Grant: 90ADPI0015-01-00 2; Funding Period:  09/30/2018 – 09/29/2021)

Background:  

In collaboration with several state and local agencies serving individuals with Intellectual Disabilities including Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, National Task Group for Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices (NTG), Westside Regional Center and L.A. Goal, WISE & Healthy Aging delivered a 3-year training and intervention program to provide community based services to individuals with dementia living alone, and evidence-based/informed dementia capability training.  

Objectives of the Training and Intervention Program: 

1) Develop and deliver supportive services to persons living alone with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Diseases (ADRD); 

2) Improve the quality and effectiveness of programs and services dedicated to individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) and ADRD or at high risk for ADRD; and 

3) Deliver behavioral symptom management training and expert consultation to family caregivers. 

Resources, Tools & Tip Sheets:

As a result of the ACL three-year grant, several tools were created that summarized WISE & Healthy Aging’s program development for supporting individuals living alone with dementia. Resources and tip sheets were developed for professionals and caregivers assisting individuals with I/DD and dementia, as well as a tip sheet proposing a qualitative analysis of program activity to support evaluation activities.  

Eight (8) products are highlighted below, with links to download.

1. Complex Needs – Practical Solutions: A Guide for Families Caring for Someone with Dementia and an Intellectual/Developmental Disability

This guide offers several types of resources available within Los Angeles County.  The intent is to include resources from the I/DD community as well as those normally found in the Aging System of Care to best support individuals with I/DD and dementia and their families.

2. Late Life Planning and End of Life Planning PowerPoint Presentations
Representatives from the Aging Community and the I/DD Community worked together to develop two new PowerPoints presentations specifically requested by professionals working with and on behalf of the Los Angeles I/DD community.

3. TIP SHEET: If you suspect dementia in someone living with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities… (Click Here)

4. TIP SHEET: Planning for the Future: Caring for an Adult with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (Click Here)

5. TIP SHEET: Using Narratives to Code Goal Attainment (Click Here)

6. Implementation Manual: One-to-One Care Consultations (Click Here)

A description of how WISE & Healthy Aging operationalized brief intervention /education with caregivers assisting individuals with dementia.

7. Implementation Manual: Volunteer Casual Caregivers (Click Here)

Program description and training materials for volunteers working collaboratively with social workers to provide care management for older adults with dementia living alone in the community. 

8. Lessons Learned (during the course of the three-year training and intervention) (Click Here)