Alzheimer’s Assn. to Assist Latinos

The Los Angeles chapter of the National Alzheimer’s Assn. plans to launch education and support programs for Southeast-area Latinos at the Human Services Assn., 6800 E. Florence Ave.

The Alzheimer’s chapter will use a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to provide Spanish-language health materials, Spanish-language support groups for Alzheimer’s patients and scholarships for care givers who want to hire in-home help. The same services will be provided at the AltaMed Health Services Corp. in East Los Angeles.

Although the disease strikes across ethnic and racial lines, the heavily Latino Southeast area lacks services to accommodate Alzheimer’s patients, said Peter Braun, executive director of the association’s Los Angeles chapter.

“It’s not enough for a support group to be 45 minutes away on a bus,” Braun said. “We’re dealing with the accessibility of services and educating people about the disease.”

An estimated 150,000 people in Los Angeles County suffer from the degenerative disease, which leads to the deterioration of cognitive and motor skills.

In January, the association will open a toll-free, Spanish-language information line. In February, it will announce details of its plan, which includes legal assistance provided by Bet Tzedek Legal Services and support groups and adult day-care programs at the two social service agencies.

The program, which is being coordinated with several organizations in Los Angeles County, including the Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology at Cal State Los Angeles, is designed as a pilot project that can be replicated in other predominantly Latino areas across the state, Braun said.