About The BOLD Grant

The Tennessee Department of Health was awarded a BOLD (Building Our Largest Dementia) Grant from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to to promote Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia risk reduction and prevention, early diagnosis, management of comorbidities, and caregiver support. TDH’s BOLD grant work focuses on a few primary initiatives:

· Public education;

· Provider education and engagement;

· Data analysis;

· Internal HBI/healthy aging assessments;

· State planning.

TDH has launched a media campaign to encourage Tennesseans to talk to their physicians about memory loss, involve caregivers in their care, and prevent the risk of dementia through lifestyle modifications. TDH is also working with partners to further ensure Tennesseans have access to information related to the risk factors associated with dementia with quick reference cards. Through the BOLD grant, TDH has also focused on provider education and outreach for healthcare providers. TDH has hosted a provider conference (both in person and online) and offered CME credits for attendees. Conference topics were focused on advancing the early detection and diagnosis of dementia, best evidence related to risk reduction, family caregiving, care coordination, accurate death reporting, palliative care, and many more topics related to dementia care. The BOLD grant also allows TDH to focus on data analysis related to dementia prevalence and comorbidity assessments. This allows TDH and partner organizations to further understand the impacts of dementia on Tennesseans and needs for direct services, supports, and education related to this topic. TDH also is working to better understand services being offered for older adults and that focus on brain health so that TDH can ensure programs are providing equitable access to those of all ages.