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BACKGROUND

Mission

There are expected to be over 335,425 Veterans with dementia by the year 2033.  Dementia has a significant impact on families, especially on caregivers.  Caregivers often report high levels of stress and caregiver burden, which can cause caregivers to develop physical and mental illnesses and in turn, impacts their ability to care for loved ones with dementia.

Goals

The goals of the GRECC Dementia Education Program (D.E.P.) is towfold: to provide education to the VISN 2 workforce and to support caregivers of Veterans with dementia.  The program support caregivers by providing educational trainings and resources.  
    • Caregiver Stress Reduction webinar series
    • Connect to community resources
    • Grief support
    • Navigating the healthcare system  

History

As part of a 2020 initiative, the Rural Interdisciplinary Team Training (RITT) Program created a caregiver support program, Dementia Care Coordinator.   


Workforce

The goal of the D.E.P. is to ensure VA VISN 2 staff feel more confident and empowered with caring for Veterans with dementia.

The program will accomplish this objective by providing educational seminars to VISN 2 staff along with online and hard copy resources in caring for the Veteran with dementia

The program also aims to provide the VISN 2 staff with training and resources to be a support for caregivers of Veterans with dementia.

CAREGIVERS

The caregiver support goal of D.E.P. strives to provide support for caregivers of Veterans with dementia by accomplishing the following:

Caregivers of Veterans with dementia will be able to join groups virtually to learn about self-care and stress reduction techniques:
    • Relaxation
    • Recharge energy
    • Connecting to support

D.E.P. also directly support caregivers of Veterans by providing educational materials for those who sign up for the mailing list.  Some of the educational topics available to caregivers:

    • Community Resources
    • Communication Skills
    • Problem Solving

Caregivers wishing to receive educational materials and invitations to webinar events, can join the mailing list by completing the form below.  Your contact information will be kept confidential.

If at any time you wish to contact us with questions, comments or to unsubscribe to the mailing list, please do not hesitate to email Nicholas Koufacos at Nicholas.Koufacos@va.gov.








Collaborations 

D.E.P. has established collaborations with:
    • VA Caregiver Support Program
    • REACH VA
    • VA Whole Health
    • Alzheimer's Association
    • Alzheimer's Foundation of America
Last modified: Wednesday, September 28, 2022, 5:04 PM