Tennessee program funds regional dementia navigators, launches 'Memory Lane' toolkit

Kita Cole, nutrition director and dementia service coordinator for the newly formed Department of Disability and Aging, outlined a three‑year Alzheimer’s Disease Program Initiative (ADPI) grant the department received in September 2023 to expand dementia supports across Tennessee. "It is a 3 year grant and the main goal of the grant is to make Tennessee a more dementia capable and dementia friendly state," Cole said.

The grant will fund a small network of regional "dementia navigators" who will act as frontline community connectors to assess families and guide them to resources even when a formal medical diagnosis is not yet available. Cole said Lynn Drew will pilot the navigator role in the Upper Cumberland region, Jackie Moment will serve Middle Tennessee, and Amanda Leach will cover West Tennessee. Cole said the department is working to finalize contracts and hopes initial services will begin Sept. 1; the grant contains a one‑year no‑cost extension to allow more time for implementation.

Materials developed under the grant — described by Cole as a "Memory Lane" guide — will be checklist‑style toolkits that map pathways for people at different points in the dementia journey and will be available both digitally and as paper binders. "We have started what we're calling a memory lane guide, and it's gonna have different pathways," Cole said. The guide will include prompts for gathering medical records, medication-review checklists and behavior‑tracking tools to help caregivers present useful information to clinicians.

The Department of Health, which received a related navigator grant, will co‑brand training and materials so families get consistent information regardless of where they enter the system, Cole said. University of Tennessee will serve as a third‑party evaluator and receive de‑identified training data to analyze outcomes and recommend adjustments.

Training plans include a dementia‑capable care certification through the Scribe Prevention Institute; Jackie Moment is a certified instructor who will train additional community members and professionals. Cole said the trainings are intended for a broad audience — volunteers, church members and paid providers — and the department will share evaluation results and training tallies with the advisory council.

Department leaders and partner organizations emphasized the limits of grant funding and the desire to expand navigators beyond the pilot regions. "I would love to have a navigator in all 95 counties in Tennessee," Cole said, while acknowledging that broader coverage will require more resources and legislative support.

Next steps: the department will finalize contracts, distribute the Memory Lane toolkit drafts to council members for feedback, begin certification training for navigators and open evaluation data to the University of Tennessee.