Alzheimer's Los Angeles

Care Counselors provide in-depth, personalized consultations for individuals and families facing decisions and challenges associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Our Masters-level Care Counselors address unique concerns to develop a care plan and work with families in person, by phone and by email.

Living well with dementia starts by empowering yourself with the right information, resources and connections. We can help address your growing concerns, enable earlier treatment, and empower you and your loved ones to plan for the future, including financial and legal matters.

Family Consultations
We are here to help by providing information, support, guidance and resources. The goals of an Early Stage consultation include:
- Create personalized care plan
- Answer questions
- Referrals to services and programs
- Educational materials and event information
- Information about clinical trials, medications and research


The Memory Club
A comprehensive support, education and peer group that meets weekly for individuals (and their care partners) experiencing early stage symptoms of memory loss due to mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder. Participants explore subjects such as:
- Understanding the disease
- Family dynamics
- Safety
- Planning for the future
- Coping techniques

The Graduation Club
Graduates of the Memory Club who meet criteria are encouraged to continue in the “Grad Club.” This group meets twice a month using experiences and challenges of each family to promote discussion. Additional topics include:
- Cognitive stimulation
- Reminiscing

Memory Mornings is an exciting activities program for persons living in the mid-stages of dementia (and their care partners). Participants enjoy cognitively stimulating activities, a chance to mingle, light refreshments, and interactive presentations on music, art, yoga and more. The goals of the program are to provide:
- Safe & supportive environment to engage in cognitively stimulating activities
- Opportunity to socialize with others who understand the dementia experience
- Chance for caregivers and persons with dementia to engage in fun, meaningful interaction

Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles is dedicated to supporting families and caregivers. For many, the best source of support is through regular support group meetings. Not only is it an opportunity to understand you are not alone in the daily struggles of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, but you will build relationships and learn from other caregivers who understand what you are going through, develop new coping strategies and find comfort, strength and hope in a compassionate and safe environment.

Our Support Groups are FREE, led by a trained group facilitators, completely confidential and are held throughout Greater Los Angeles in multiple languages.

Telephone Support Group
This is an option for homebound caregivers that cannot attend an in-person group due to transportation and respite issues. Telephone Support Groups are FREE, offered monthly in multiple languages and are moderated by trained facilitators. From the comfort of home:
- Share ideas
- Ask questions

Memories in the Making (MiM) is a unique fine arts program for people with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias that offers a creative and non-verbal way of communicating and capturing precious moments through art.

Benefits
- Stimulates the brain
- Enhances connections with families and caregivers
- Preserves distant memories or captures the “spirit of the moment”
- Opens communication about self-perceptions and the world
- Validates and focuses on what remains rather than what’s lost

We offer free classes and workshops about brain health, memory concerns, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, research updates and more. Classes are also offered in Spanish, Chinese and other languages.

Class topics include:
- Let’s Talk About It: Memory Loss & Alzheimer’s
- Keeping Your Brain Healthy
- Alzheimer’s Questions & Answers
- Alzheimer’s Disease Research Update

Family Caregiver Workshops:
- Savvy Caregiver / Cuidando con respeto (Spanish)
- Savvy Caregiver Express
- Making Home Safe for a Person with Alzheimer’s
- Are they doing that to annoy us? Behaviors and Alzheimer’s Disease
- Communication & Dementia – Connecting with a person with memory loss
- Down Syndrome & Alzheimer’s Disease

Educational Materials
We maintain a variety of educational materials (brochures, videos, audiotapes, and books) on topics related to Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

LOCAL ACTION
Bringing Our Loved Ones Home Taskforce
ALZGLA recently served on the Bringing Our Loved Ones Home Taskforce (BOLOH), which included County, City, and community based organizations working together to explore countywide programs to ensure the safe return of individuals who wander away from their families and caregivers.

Purposeful Aging Los Angeles
Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles is proud to be a partner of the Purposeful Aging Los Angeles Initiative, which seeks to prepare our region for a rapidly aging population.

Dementia Capable Communities
We are currently supporting dementia friendly initiatives in the Los Angeles area to help our area communities better accommodate the needs of those dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. For more information, we encourage you to visit the very informative web Dementia Friendly America website.

STATE ACTION
Coordinated Care Initiative
Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles has been a key participant in the state’s Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI) which has sought to better serve people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
The 2017-18 California state budget formally terminated the CCI as a springboard to remove In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) as a managed care benefit and to re-negotiate the IHSS program’s financial structure. Under the budget, however, all other major components of the CCI will continue with little-to-no anticipated impact in the way beneficiaries in the seven CCI counties access services. The Cal MediConnect program was extended from a three-year demonstration to a five-year demonstration and will continue through December 31, 2019, pursuant to federal authority.

Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles will continue working closely with the five health plans participating in the Cal MediConnect program in their efforts to build a more dementia capable service delivery system by encouraging plans to:
- Adopt proven screening tools to better identify people with dementia
- Establish a protocol to identify family/friend caregivers
- Document family/friend caregiver in the patient’s medical record
- Assess family/friend caregiver needs
- Provide respite benefits
- Provide dementia-specific professional training programs and technical assistance to health plans
- Adopt ALZ Direct Connect referral program to connect members to:
Support groups
Caregiver education
Early stage services
Care counseling
Medic Alert Wanderers I.D. program

Full Dental Benefits Restored to Adult Medi-Cal Recipients
The 2017-18 budget fully restored adult dental benefits starting January 1, 2018. Dental benefits were partially restored in May 2014, but there were major gaps in coverage. Most notably, starting in January 2018, all adult Medi-Cal recipients will again be eligible for gum treatment, root canals on the back teeth, and partial dentures.

Non-Medical Transportation Now a Plan Benefit
Starting July 1, 2017, all Medi-Cal plans are responsible for providing Non-Medical Transportation (NMT) to Medi-Cal recipients. Plans have always been responsible for providing Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) – this is transportation by medical mode (e.g. wheelchair van or litter van). Plans now are responsible for providing transportation or reimbursement for transportation by standard conveyance.

FEDERAL ACTION
Funding Alzheimer’s Research

Protecting the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act has implemented important benefits for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Some of those benefits include:
- Free annual Medicare wellness visit that includes a cognitive assessment
- Expanding coverage of Medicare prescription drugs to eliminate the “donut hole”
- Health insurance companies cannot refuse coverage based on pre-existing conditions, which protects people with early-onset dementia from discrimination.

Continued attacks on the Affordable Care Act have proposed repealing the individual mandate, terminating the Medicaid expansion, and impose per capita caps and block grants. The proposals would directly harm Californians by:
- Slashing Medicaid funding, forcing California to cut services, restrict eligibility and reduce benefits.
- Putting access to long-term services and supports at jeopardy.
- Charge older Californians more.
- Eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions.