Hospice of the Piedmont has been chosen in July to participate in a new initiative launched by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help support individuals living with dementia as well as their caregivers.
CMS’s GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) Model is a supportive program designed to enhance the coordination of healthcare services for those living with dementia, while also supporting the needs of their caregivers. Hospice of the Piedmont is one of fewer than 400 providers nationally chosen to participate in the program.
“This is a great step forward in helping provide support to individuals living with dementia and their caregivers,” says CEO Trent Cockerham. “The program will rely on the engagement of healthcare professionals including physicians, nurses, social workers and community health workers to achieve the aims of the initiative. This dovetails perfectly with the current services the organization already provides across the communities we serve.”
Funded by Medicare dollars, services under the GUIDE Model are available to any traditional, fee-for-service Medicare beneficiary with a diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Individuals with Medicare Advantage plans are not eligible to participate.
“Our organization’s participation in this innovation project is the result of much hard work and planning, occurring over the past weeks and months,” Cockerham said. Cockerham added his belief that this innovation work is timely citing a March, 2024 report from the Alzheimer’s Association which suggested that as many as 1 in 9 individuals aged 65 and older may have some form of dementia. That’s 11% nationally and statistics for North Carolina suggest a rate of 11.6% within the same population, Cockerham added.
Eligibility in the dementia support program is not limited to individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia is an umbrella term and includes many different categories of dementia including vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia,
Alzheimer’s disease and dementias which occur secondary to other diseases like Parkinson’s or Huntington’s disease.
Individuals interested in learning more about dementia support services or to learn about eligibility, can call Hospice of the Piedmont’s offices at 336-889-8446 or by visiting www.hospiceofthepiedmont.org/palliative-care.