Healthy Brain Initiative

The Healthy Brain Initiative seeks to create a better coordinated, aligned, and equity-focused system of care for those at risk for or living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers.

Healthy Brain Initiative

Healthy Brain Initiative

An image of eight individuals posing in front of a backdrop of the Talk On Alzheimer's step and repeat

The Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) seeks to create a better coordinated, aligned, and equity-focused system of care for those at-risk for or living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers.

Locally, planning for the Alameda County Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) began in 2018-2019 with a group of community and public agency leaders. This community-driven process has continued, including ongoing collaboration with the Alameda County Age-Friendly Council.

Alameda County was one of 13 local health jurisdictions awarded funding in 2023 by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Alzheimer’s Disease Program, California Healthy Brain Initiative between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2025.

Based on the local comprehensive community planning process, HBI implemented a two-year work plan that included the following four action steps to advance cognitive health as an integral component of public health:

  1. Community Needs Assessment, Surveillance, Evaluation: Conduct a Community Needs Assessment, develop a Strategic Plan for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), and conduct surveillance and evaluation of services.
  2. Community Advisory Coalition: The Embracing Aging workgroup of the Alameda County Age-Friendly Council guides local HBI efforts.

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  3. ADRD Trainings for Providers: Working with the findings from the HBI Strategic Plan and Community Needs Assessment, and in collaboration with the EA Workgroup, HBI developed a comprehensive training implementation plan.To implement the trainings, HBI partnered with six Subject Matter Expert (SME) organizations, including:

    By June 30, 2025, HBI had provided 63 ADRD training sessions to over 1,000 people across Alameda County, more than triple the goal in the CDPH-funded project plan to provide 20 trainings before that date. Of the 1,013 training participants, 39% (400) submitted training evaluations. Trainings were well received across the board, with nearly 90% rating the trainings as “Excellent” or “Very Good.”

    Trainings reached a wide range of participants by age and race/ethnicity. Among training participants who completed evaluations, 30% identified as Black or African American. This is significant, as that population has among the highest ADRD prevalence, hospitalizations and death rates in Alameda County. However, the Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native populations were underrepresented. Efforts to reach those communities are continuing, as they also suffer disproportionate impacts from ADRD.

    For more information or to schedule a training, please email HBI.Trainings@acgov.org.

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  4. Emergency Planning and Preparedness: Strengthen cross-sector partnerships among subject matter experts and professionals in emergency preparedness, older adult public health, and ADRD across the 14 cities and six unincorporated areas in Alameda County in order to ensure that emergency plans at all levels address the specific needs of people with dementia and their caregivers.

The best way to ensure that emergency plans are prepared to meet the needs of people living with dementia and their caregivers is to include the needs of those with cognitive impairments within broader discussions of Access and Functional Needs (AFN). To that end, HBI worked with staff from ACPHD’s Developmental Disabilities Council and the Alameda County Functional Assessment and Service Team (FAST) to develop and launch the collaborative, cross-sector Alameda County Access and Functional Needs (AFN) Advisory Committee.  ACPHD staff continue to conduct outreach and provide support to the committee, and it has two public-facing committee co-chairs: Elsie Kusel, Prevention, Preparedness, Education and Training, Alameda County EMS Agency; and Ron Halog, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, ILRSCC (Independent Living Resources of Solano & Contra Costa Counties).

Committee members include those representing county agencies with a role in emergency planning and preparedness; city emergency planners; and trusted messengers serving AFN populations, including community-based organizations and others. Meetings are held on a quarterly basis, using a hybrid (in-person and Zoom) format. The committee has prioritized three objectives, including review of existing city and county EOPs for AFN integration; developing an AFN review tool or ADA checklist, or finding an existing one; and action-oriented projects such as tabletop and full-scale exercises to test recommendations.

As of September 2025, the Alameda County AFN Advisory Committee includes 55 people from 35 community-based organizations, cities and county agencies. Participants are very engaged, and the group continues to meet quarterly.

For additional information about the Alameda County AFN Advisory Committee, please email ALCOAFN@acgov.org.

For a definition and more information about access and functional needs, please visit the California Office of Emergency Services, Office of Access and Functional Needs website. 

Looking Ahead

Although CDPH statewide funding for HBI programs ended on June 30, 2025, HBI is continuing its efforts. HBI SME contractors will provide up to 40 additional trainings through December 31, 2025. HBI will also continue to collaborate with the AFN Advisory Committee planning team to develop and expand the committee and implement its recommendations.

Resources

Contact Us

For additional information, please contact Andrea Dodge, Director, Healthy Brain Initiative:

Email: Andrea.Dodge2@acgov.org

Phone: (510) 268-2056

Alameda County Health, Public Health Department
Community Health Services Division
1100 San Leandro Blvd, Suite 400
San Leandro, CA 94577