Oklahoma healthcare training built to improve dementia patient care
By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
An education program through OU Health is attempting to shore up access to care for the state’s dementia patients.
In 2019, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center received a five-year, $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Service Administration. Among the objectives of the grant was to provide community-based training and educational opportunities to improve health outcomes for the state’s dementia patients.
“We know people are living longer than ever before,” said Terence Gipson, Oklahoma Dementia Care Network program evaluator. “With an increasing elder population, particularly here in Oklahoma and in our rural communities, there’s a need to provide more community-based services for our elders, particularly in the realm of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.”