Newport Beach, Calif., July 2, 2013 – Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has been awarded a $450,000 grant
to continue helping residents maintain a health brain for life, through
its Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program, officials announced.
The Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program (Vital Brain Program), launched
in 2010, recently received its second UniHealth Foundation grant for $450,000,
which will partially fund the program for another three years through
March 2016.
The grant was awarded to the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute, which offers
the most comprehensive neurosciences program in Orange County through
a network of specialists with expertise in such areas as addiction medicine,
brain tumors, multiple sclerosis and memory and cognitive disorders.
“This generous grant allow us to continue fulfilling our mission
of focusing on healthy brain aging through risk-factor management, adoption
of cognitively healthier lifestyles, and annual monitoring of memory and
cognition,” said Dr. William Shankle, M.S., M.D., F.A.C.P., a board-certified
neurologist and the Judy and Richard Voltmer Chair in Memory and Cognitive
Disorders Program at Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute.
The UniHealth Foundation, based in Los Angeles, is a non-profit philanthropic
organization whose mission is to support and facilitate activities that
significantly improve the health and the well being of individuals and
communities within its service area.
The Vital Brain Program promotes healthy brains through such forums as
public seminars, continuing medical education training for physicians,
clinical care guidelines, online resources, self-assessments, and in-person
cognitive assessment services.
Since its inception in 2010, the Vital Brain Program has partnered with
the Primary Care Institute at Hoag Hospital to conduct a pilot study to
better understand how cognitive healthcare is delivered in primary care
settings. It has engaged 13 physicians from four different medical practice
types to review medical records in order to characterize cognitive healthcare
delivery to their patients. Within this second UniHealth grant, the Vital
Brain Program is expanding its partnership to the Hoag Medical Group,
a newly formed group of primary care physicians, to understand the economics
of managing patients with cognitive health issues. The outcome of this
preliminary study as well as a three-year outcome of the Vital Brain Program
will be presented by Dr. Shankle at next month’s Alzheimer’s
Association International Conference in Boston.
Among its many other services, the Vital Brain Program also offers in-person
memory assessment at four locations around the county, including at the
Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute in Newport Beach, the Oasis Senior Center
in Corona Del Mar, Hoag Hospital Irvine and Hoag Health Center Huntington Beach.
“With the rapid aging of the United States, cognitive impairment
is imposing a major health and socioeconomic threat to our community,”
Dr. Shankle said. “While Alzheimer’s disease is a significant
cause of cognitive impairment, other more treatable conditions are also
common causes, including depression, sleep disorders, cerebrovascular
and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and renal disease.”
This grant allows the Vital Brain Program to continue educating the community
and physicians about Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders,
which can produce irreversible cognitive impairment, increase healthcare
costs, and lower quality of life unless identified and treated early.
“We at the Vital Brain Program are dedicated to turning the tide
on these insidious diseases, and look forward to continued interaction
with the community about the benefits of maintaining brain health through
all stages of life.”
For more information about the Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program,
visit www.OCBrain.org, and for more information about Hoag Neurosciences
Institute, visit www.hoag.org/neurosciences.
About Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute
Delivering a personalized, integrated approach using best-practice guidelines,
the most advanced technology, and integration of medical specialists in
the most appropriate facilities, Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute provides
the highest quality care for patients with brain and spine disorders including
stroke, aneurysms and vascular malformations, brain tumors, epilepsy,
movement disorders, memory and cognitive disorders, pain, minimally invasive
spine surgery, multiple sclerosis, addiction medicine and sleep disorders,
as well as the mind-body interface of behavioral health. Several of Hoag’s
neuroscience programs have received high acclaim, including Hoag’s
stroke program, which ranks among the top five percent in the nation and
was awarded the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines
Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement for Hoag’s high standard
of stroke care. And as one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer the
most advanced radiosurgical treatment system available, Leksell Gamma
Knife® Perfexion™, Hoag’s brain tumor program is the largest
in Orange County and is also among the top volume programs in the western
United States.