Productive Partnerships: Nurturing collaborations to attain meaningful and best practice programming – examples from rural Georgia.
Abstract
Georgia Department of Public Health Injury Prevention Program creates conversations and collaborations for a healthy Georgia. The latest work is through a CDC grant designed to bring public health into the fold of dementia work. This grant addresses systems change and leverages resources to fortify Georgia’s dementia infrastructure. This is accomplished through a dynamic network of partnerships guided by the state plan. The program prioritizes work at the grassroots level.
Community programs contain rich and multifaceted networks that host broad ranges of ongoing, meaningful engagement activities designed to improve the supports and services for people living with dementia. Collaboration begins with localized partner perspective, then incorporates evidence-based, data driven program building. The work engages various partnership levels to expand understanding of organizational dementia capacity, reach, and funding potential. It avoids duplication of efforts and enhances synergy in cooperative activities centered on long-term plans for increasing annual wellness visits, dementia risk reduction, early diagnosis, prevention and management of comorbidities, and reducing avoidable hospitalizations.
For example, the University of Georgia Cognitive Aging Research and Education (CARE) initiative formed community advisory boards in 11 rural Georgia communities to inform programming needs around dementia education, diagnosis, and support services. These advisory boards guide activities, like community forums, where community members and experts gather and learn from each other in community spaces and developing brain health education tailored to their unique needs.
Thoughtful partnership development, support, and guidance also increases capacity and highlights paths to quality care for people living with dementia, their care partners, professionals, and communities. Employing systems approaches brokers cohesiveness. This includes unifying quarterly meetings, conversations, and supports for wellness opportunities. It is through these wellness opportunities that the program pursues early diagnosis, chronic disease management, assessment of burden and gaps, stigma reduction, and emphasizes rural health.
Keywords
rural health, partnership, collaboration, systems, dementia, community
Productive Partnerships: Nurturing collaborations to attain meaningful and best practice programming – examples from rural Georgia.
Georgia Department of Public Health Injury Prevention Program creates conversations and collaborations for a healthy Georgia. The latest work is through a CDC grant designed to bring public health into the fold of dementia work. This grant addresses systems change and leverages resources to fortify Georgia’s dementia infrastructure. This is accomplished through a dynamic network of partnerships guided by the state plan. The program prioritizes work at the grassroots level.
Community programs contain rich and multifaceted networks that host broad ranges of ongoing, meaningful engagement activities designed to improve the supports and services for people living with dementia. Collaboration begins with localized partner perspective, then incorporates evidence-based, data driven program building. The work engages various partnership levels to expand understanding of organizational dementia capacity, reach, and funding potential. It avoids duplication of efforts and enhances synergy in cooperative activities centered on long-term plans for increasing annual wellness visits, dementia risk reduction, early diagnosis, prevention and management of comorbidities, and reducing avoidable hospitalizations.
For example, the University of Georgia Cognitive Aging Research and Education (CARE) initiative formed community advisory boards in 11 rural Georgia communities to inform programming needs around dementia education, diagnosis, and support services. These advisory boards guide activities, like community forums, where community members and experts gather and learn from each other in community spaces and developing brain health education tailored to their unique needs.
Thoughtful partnership development, support, and guidance also increases capacity and highlights paths to quality care for people living with dementia, their care partners, professionals, and communities. Employing systems approaches brokers cohesiveness. This includes unifying quarterly meetings, conversations, and supports for wellness opportunities. It is through these wellness opportunities that the program pursues early diagnosis, chronic disease management, assessment of burden and gaps, stigma reduction, and emphasizes rural health.
