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1992.12.08 :  Alzheimer's Demonstration Grants

Contact:  Patricia Campbell (301) 443-3376
December 8, 1992

       HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced a
$3.9 million Alzheimer's Demonstration Grant to States Program to
provide services, develop projects, and disseminate information to
people with Alzheimer's disease, their caregivers and families.  
       Awards from the Health Resources and Services
Administration, which oversees the program, will go to 11 grantees:
the California Department of Human Resources; the Florida
Department of Elder Affairs; the Maine Department of Human
Resources; the Maryland Department of Human Resources; the Michigan
Department of Mental Health; the Montana Department of Family
Services; the Ohio Department of Aging; the Oregon Department of
Human Resources; the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs, Puerto
Rico; the South Carolina Commission on Aging; and the Washington,
D.C., Office on Aging. 
       "A key objective of this program is to show how existing
public and private resources within a state can be more effectively
identified, coordinated and used to deliver care and support
services to people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers," 
said Secretary Sullivan.
       An estimated four million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's 
disease, a progressive brain disorder that slowly erodes the mind,
causing subtle to severe memory loss, disorientation and impaired
thinking processes.  About 250,000 new cases are diagnosed each
year, and the incidence of the disease increases with age.
       "These grants are part of a larger effort to help alleviate
patient suffering and family burden," said Assistant Secretary for
Health James Mason, M.D., Dr.P.H.  "They will go a long way toward
identifying and helping to bridge the gaps in existing services."
       Federal funds will provide program participants with access
to outreach and transportation services, training and support
services, and information and referral services.  Anyone with
Alzheimer's disease may be eligible for services, although the
program's focus is primarily on those patients and families who are
currently underserved by public and private programs.
       HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care will administer the
grants.  "This program will help Alzheimer's patients and their
caregivers, who are often family members, to overcome some of the 
barriers they face in accessing services," said HRSA Administrator
Robert G. Harmon, M.D., M.P.H.
       HRSA is an agency of the U.S. Public Health Service within
HHS.
                                 
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NOTE:  See attached list of grantees and amounts.
        ALZHEIMER'S DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM GRANTEES FY 1992

     STATE AGENCY                                 AMOUNT

California Department of Human Resources       $  500,000

Florida Department of Elder Affairs               500,000

Maine Department of Human Resources               185,000

Maryland Department of Human Resources            490,085

Michigan Department of Mental Health              619,368

Montana Department of Family Services             155,500

Ohio Department of Aging                          180,000

Oregon Department of Human Resources              253,349

Puerto Rico, Governor's Office of
  Elderly Affairs                                 381,074

South Carolina Commission on Aging                400,000

Washington, D.C., Office on Aging                 258,296
                                                                 
                                   TOTAL       $3,922,672



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