The Alzheimer’s Association of Wyoming recently received a more than $15,000 grant from the Wyoming Community Foundation to bring in-person education programs to the southwest and northeast corners of the state. The grant will support programming in Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Uinta, Crook, Niobrara and Weston counties.
The funds will help create community action networks in more rural parts of the state, bringing together stakeholders to figure out what gaps exist in supporting those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers and how to best address those gaps.
Alzheimer’s Association of Wyoming Executive Director Debra Antista-Bianchi said the year-long grant is crucial in helping those who are already far from health care, education and support.
“We need to really hone in on making sure people understand, that they have the knowledge, and then that they have access to the information that they need so that they can navigate a really difficult journey,” she said.
Wyoming is currently home to more than 10,000 people living with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement. That number is projected to increase by 30 percent by 2025 as the state’s population continues to age and nearly seven million people in the U.S. live with the disease.
Antista-Bianchi said it’s important for people to know how to recognize the ten early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. She said it’s also important for patients, family and clinicians to be able to have open and informed conversations about what’s going on.
“When you get to the doctor, you need to know how to ask for what you need and how to advocate for your person. At the same time, we need to be working with our clinicians and we need to be supporting them. This idea of early detection and diagnosis really is first and foremost, but if you don't understand that, you're not going to pursue it,” she said.
Susie von Ahrens is the chair of the board for the Alzheimer’s Association of Wyoming and lives in Rock Springs. She has a friend who lives an hour and a half from a doctor, and that friend’s relative is starting to show signs of the disease. Von Ahrens said that's exactly who this grant is for.
“Being out so far in the middle of nowhere…I mean, it’s just so hard on them. We need to get them education and some help and caregiver support,” she said.
According to the 2023 Wyoming Healthy Aging Report, nearly 75 percent of counties in the state are classified as “frontier,” which have an average of less than seven residents per square mile, as defined by the Rural Health Information Hub.
Von Ahrens has also been volunteering with the organization for the last seven years. She said the grant will help spread Alzheimer’s education out to more rural and frontier parts of the state.
“I'm hoping that we reach out to as many care providers and individuals as we can. That's the whole purpose,” she said.
The outreach efforts will start with a community forum to bring stakeholders together, followed by a series of educational programs that will ideally evolve into ongoing in-person support groups.
