LSU Healthy Aging Research Center Receives $25K to Expand Dementia-Focused Healthcare Training
August 10, 2026
BATON ROUGE, LA – The LSU Healthy Aging Research Center (HARC) has received an additional $25,000 to expand its dementia-focused training through its Louisiana-Mississippi Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Project (LAMS-GWEP), a continuation of the program’s partnership with Ochsner Health.
HARC will use the funding to develop and provide dementia education and training focused on Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) and Multiple Etiology Dementia (MED) to the health care and supportive care workforces.
“We are beginning to understand the relatively common prevalence of LATE and MED among older adults with progressive memory loss,” HARC Director Scott Wilks, PhD, LMSW, said. “With targeted education and training, the HARC team aims to reduce significantly the number of misdiagnoses with these pathologies, thereby reinforcing one of our biggest goals: improving dementia-friendly practice in primary care settings for Louisiana and Mississippi residents.”
The new funding builds on LAMS-GWEP’s ongoing work to strengthen dementia-friendly care across Louisiana and Mississippi. The five-year initiative, led by Wilks, received a $5 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant in 2024 to educate and train the primary care and geriatric workforces in rural and underserved communities. Through LAMS-GWEP, HARC partners with Ochsner Health, the University of Southern Mississippi, Chamberlain College of Nursing and Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area to expand access to age-friendly and dementia-focused care.
HARC’s work reflects its broader commitment to improving the health, well-being and independence of older adults and their caregivers through interdisciplinary research, education and community partnerships. As LAMS-GWEP continues to expand its training efforts, the additional investment will help HARC and its partners strengthen the health care workforce’s ability to provide high-quality, person-centered dementia care across Louisiana and other rural areas.
About LSU HARC
The LSU Healthy Aging Research Center (HARC) impacts positively the health of vulnerable
older adults through interdisciplinary applied research: to improve the health, wellbeing,
and independence of older adults and their caregivers. We focus on physiological,
psychological, behavioral, social, and environmental processes involved in aging.
We engage with the larger community in conversations about healthy aging, cognitive
aging, and early detection and diagnosis of dementia and supports for people with
dementia and their caregivers. HARC values excellence in its impact and ability to
advance and disseminate knowledge and increase its capacity to address the challenges
of healthy aging in our state, our nation, and globally.