MetLife Foundation Alzheimer Outreach Initiative For Hispanics.

The Alzheimer’s Association of America has announced a new initiative, funded by MetLife Foundation, to promote education and awareness about Alzheimer’s disease to the Latino population. According to recent reports, U.S. Latinos develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s earlier, on average, than white non-Latino people, and Hispanics are also among the fastest growing populations affected by the disease; by 2050, the number of Hispanics in the U.S. with Alzheimer’s is expected to increase 600 percent, from the current 200,000 people to 1.3 million. The project will link chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association with affiliates of the National Council of LaRaza (NCLR), the Washington, D.C. based advocacy group for the Hispanic community.

The outreach pilot projects will use the promotores de salud community model promoted by NCLR. The promotores de salud, or Community Lay Health Worker Model, is a grass-roots, community-based program for health education and promotion. Promotores are members of the communities they serve—sharing the same culture, values and characteristics. They serve as role models of healthy messages and understand the community needs.

“MetLife Foundation is pleased to support this project, which we believe will provide much-needed resources to the Latino community,” said Sibyl Jacobson, President, MetLife Foundation.

MetLife Foundation funds will support the work of two pilot projects. One will take place in El Paso, TX, and will pair up the STAR Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association with Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe of NCLR. The other pilot project will take place in Miami, FL, and involve the South Florida chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and Abriendo Puertas of NCLR. In both locations, Promotores will be trained in dementia education and brain health to build awareness of the resources available through the Alzheimer’s Association. The organizations will also work together to develop culturally appropriate materials in Spanish, with a special emphasis on health literacy. As the pilot projects are tested and strengthened in these two cities, the Association and NCLR will seek to extend this work to other Hispanic communities across the country.

“Like millions of other Americans, I have had direct experience with the challenges of caring for a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s,” said National Council of La Raza President and CEO Janet Murguia. “While my family is fortunate to have the resources that led to a diagnosis and enabled us to respond, not every Latino family does. Our partnership with MetLife Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, and Abriendo Puertas is designed to make sure that all Hispanic families have access to the information they need to ensure early detection and appropriate treatment of this challenging condition.”

“This exciting partnership between two national organizations with different, yet converging, interests is a first for the Alzheimer’s Association,” said Kathleen O’Brien, senior vice president, program and community services, Alzheimer’s Association. “It is critical that we increase our efforts to reach the Latino communities. The expertise of the Alzheimer’s Association in dementia and elder care, combined with the community contacts and cultural knowledge of NCLR, creates a strong, vital program for providing a greater level of education, resources, and support to the Hispanic community.”