Grant for dementia education

HUNTINGTON BEACH — As many in her situation would be, Newport Beach resident Lin Auer said she and her husband Albert J. Auer were shocked when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Despite being in denial at first, Lin and Albert Auer became proactive, taking him to the leading doctors in the area of cognitive impairment and were referred to Adult Day Services of Orange County in Huntington Beach.

About five years after his diagnosis, Albert Auer, 82, is now a participant of the Adult Day Services, which Lin Auer said has given her husband a “better quality of life.”

A real estate developer, Albert Auer volunteered for several organizations, but considered Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian his “baby,” his wife said. He sat on Hoag’s board of directors and even served as the its chairman for a time.

It was then he became an advocate for Adult Day Services as one of Hoag’s community health partners.

“He was very much an advocate for having our services in the community, and he didn’t know that years later he would become a participant,” Adult Day Services spokeswoman Allison Cato said.

Today hospital officials plan to announce that Hoag was awarded a $250,000 grant from the UniHealth Foundation for a three-year dementia education project — a collaborative effort between Hoag and Adult Day Services.

The program will help educate healthcare providers, caregivers and patients about dementia and its related diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

“There’s a lack of understanding and knowledge about dementia…. Alzheimer’s is a buzz word, but people don’t really understand what it means,” Adult Day Services executive director Cordula Dick-Muehlke said.

With the aging baby boomer population, dementia is becoming a very important malady to learn about, Hoag spokeswoman Laura Berger said.

According to a 2006 survey conducted by the MetLife Foundation, Alzheimer’s Disease is the second-most feared affliction after cancer by people 55 years old and older.

To help educate the public about dementia, a free community education class will be offered at Hoag at 6 p.m. March 22 called “Is Someone You Love Becoming Forgetful?”

For more information, go to www.adultdayservicesoc.org.