Memory Care Clinic Receives $1.5 Million Grant for New Model of Care
A $1.5 million Reimagining Nursing Initiative grant from the American Nurses Foundation will enable Emory Healthcare’s Integrated Memory Care (IMC) Clinic to expand primary care for people living with dementia.
Created in 2015, the IMC Clinic is an innovative, nurse-led, patient-centered medical home that provides memory and primary care for people living with dementia and their care partners. It is a unique “one-stop shop” practice model, recognized nationwide and available only at Emory Healthcare.
The expansion of the clinic program — called IMC in Community — will allow dementia-sensitive primary care to be provided within participants’ senior living communities. The model incorporates occupational therapists and dementia care assistants to maintain participants’ independence for as long as possible. The practice also includes registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and clinical social workers to support participants and their care partners.
The grant allowing for the expansion was awarded to Carolyn Clevenger, 02MSN, 18DNP, GNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP, FGSA, a School of Nursing professor and gerontological nurse practitioner, and Deena Gilland, 07MSN, 18DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Emory Healthcare's ambulatory practice vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer.
“Despite the considerable successes of the IMC Clinic, we have seen a critical gap in the continuum of care for our clients,” says Clevenger, clinical director of the clinic. “The grant from the American Nurses Foundation will enable us to pilot an expansion of IMC’s comprehensive care model into a new home-based setting — senior living communities.”
According to Gilland, expanding this nurse-led care model fully supports a National Academy of Medicine report emphasizing how nurses can reduce health disparities, promote equity, and maintain patient and family-focused care.
