Optimizing Participation in Alzheimer's Research Optimizing NIA’s Eureka Prize Competition Topic

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent but it is only one of several neurodegenerative diseases that lead to dementia. The heterogeneity among types of dementia and people impacted is part of what makes dementia care such a challenge for the US Healthcare system. For those facing one of the “related dementias” like frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) the challenge is compounded by the fact that most people and many medical... more »

This past week I went in search of a physician who could assist me with a cognitive assessment in Nassau County. I reached out to one of my Geriatricians in the county who was immediately able to access my client's records, see his history and refer me to the appropriate Neuropsychologist. While I'm sure connecting records on a national level may be a daunting task - this process worked so expeditiously that I believe... more »

Innovations in dementia care and support might be assessed against the following Likert scales:
1 = Not credible or convincing; 3 = Neutral; 5 = Very credible and convincing
1. The specific customer/stakeholder is clearly defined
2. The problem this customer is having is clearly described
3. This solution is clearly better (creates new value) than what exists now for this problem
4. The innovation/solution being proposed... more »

With most providers utilizing several different electronic health records and results from visits not share in the appropriate time frame. Or one shared patient portal related to his/her Alzheimer appointment. Recently has to take my family member to an urgent care facility as her PCP doesn't have weekend hours and we were at this appointment for five hours. My family member was severely dehydrated and required an... more »

Suggestion category: Low-cost innovations to improve AD/ADRD care.

Reason for entry: While the "ideas" site is for RFIs about the best ways to structure and frame the NIA's Eureka grant, this "application-like" idea attempts to motivate the NIA to focus the grant on gaps in assistive technology which make care giving challenging and unnecessarily costly. Drug therapies and more recently Internet-based information systems... more »

Currently, Clinicaltrials.gov is the database featuring all clinical trials. Unfortunately, it is written in clinical-speak, making it hard to locate and detemine what clinical trials are available for participation. I suggest a simple app be created that combs the Clinicaltrials.gov database for recruiting trials based on the stage of Alzheimer's disease. This would expedite the search and allow patients and caregivers... more »

All day TV program talking with patients getting them to interact. Maybe music that people in their 70-80s would enjoy along with the words. Have the "host" talking to the person directly. In a nursing home environment little interaction due to costs, this would be everything from exercises to questions about food and places visited.

One older adult says “I am not hungry,” but if this person has a severe cognitive impairment, how can we ensure that this person is physiologically hungry? Often, hunger and thurst levels of people with dementia may not be accurately accessed and care providers are challenged to interpret patients’ needs.

Anterior pituitary gland (i.e., stimulated by Hypothalamus which release thirst related hormones) regulates thirst... more »

Problem statement: Despite the nature of dementia with several stages of progression, there is lack of robust communication system allowing up to date, real-time information that both medical professionals and care providers can monitor patients' health.

Challenge: Developing a shared restricted database that includes CT scan record results, neurological tests, and medical interpretations from physicians, and care providers'... more »

People often experience elusive communication in a way with patients’ dementia.

To address the difficulties in understanding people with dementia speaking, through the communication device (e.g., similar to the device that Stephen Hawking used or supercomputer or iPhone Siri) will allow clearer judgment to understand the needs of patients with dementia.

This approach is innovative because the device can 1) prolong... more »

Our group of meteorologists and physicians have been researching the relationship of real-time weather and human health. We have found very strong relationships between several ongoing health concerns. We believe that using wearables, looking at patient databases of actions, medicine use, and emotion, we can co-relate with weather data. With that, we can actually predict some actions of risk. Weather impacts every aspect... more »

An online group will allow caregivers to share ideas and support one another.

Caregiving can be a difficult change in the lives of those who care for loved ones. Transitions is a concept that would aid dementia/Alzheimer's caregivers, and any other caregivers with family members facing a debilitating health diagnosis, in their journey by providing an inclusive space to find tools, resources and information. An individualized plan would be created for each caregiver based on their current needs.... more »

Most Alzheimer patients can be helped when they hear the same information multiple times. There are multiples ideas about what needs to be done. However, there is a solution out there that is built already called VoixRx and it can used and built on.
One of the main causes is that their short-term and long-term memory capabilities have been altered. It has been shown that they tend to remember more when they listen to... more »

This prize needs to take into account the fact that Alzheimers is not the only dementia (there are about 100 types so far described) & the fact that people who are too young to be eligible for Medicare & Medicaid (65+ years old) get dementias. My late father had a combination of FTD & CTE (he was a military veteran) and I gave him full time unpaid care at home from ages 36 - 46. 1 out of 4 caregivers is a millennial &... more »