Evaluation of the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving

The University of Minnesota's BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving (PHCOE-DC) assists state, tribal, territorial, and local public health agencies nationwide in implementing actions related to dementia caregiving, aligned with the CDC's broader Health Brain Initiative Road Map. RAND evaluated the Center's activities (e.g., webinars, toolkits, technical assistance, convenings) from 2021 to 2025.

Key Takeaways

Findings focus on caregiving resources provided by the Center, use of these resources by public health agencies (PHA), new and enhanced partnerships, approaches to increase equitable access to information, and general changes to agency capacity:

• Webinars were a key source of information on dementia caregiving considerations in public health for public health agencies (PHAs) and other partners; the Center hosted an average of nine webinars each year of the grant period, usually once per month, with the majority of PHAs finding the content to be relevant, actionable, and useful.
• The national conference hosted by the Center in June 2022 served as a key touchpoint between the Center, grantees, and other partners such as Executive Committee member organizations early in the grant period and allowed individuals to establish initial connections with each other and Center staff in-person and virtually.
• The core content of the Center's materials and technical assistance was focused on dementia caregiving tools, evidence-based programs, and real-world implementation examples of integrating dementia caregiving into public health, with different content introduced over time in response to PHA feedback. Information was housed on the Center's website.
• Technical assistance (i.e., individualized discussions and supports from the Center) utilization among PHAs was consistently low despite some PHAs informally contacting the Center for assistance; this use tended to increase when PHAs transitioned from planning to implementation phases of their BOLD grants.
• The Center developed some webinars and tools focused on equitable access to dementia caregiving resources and supports. These were specifically designed for diverse communities that PHAs found valuable to learn about; while PHAs praised the Center's equity focus, most did not report direct use of PHCOE-DC resources in their own equity initiatives, citing needs for more nuanced messaging strategies.
• Improvements to PHA capacity were limited, likely due to the early stages of implementation for the PHAs; however, PHAs felt their capacity to engage in supporting dementia caregiving activities improved through information and resources shared and provided by the Center, as well as connections facilitated through Center staff.
• In interviews, PHAs shared that they felt the Center made broader contribution to elevating dementia caregiving as a public health priority.