Dementia Alliance of North Carolina, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, provides personal, individualized support to thousands of families from across the state through an intentional model of support for caregivers and individuals. These programs offer Comfort, Assistance, Resources, and Education (CARE) to individuals and families living with dementia throughout the state of North Carolina and beyond.  

The CCME Foundation provided a $39,858 grant to translate the newly updated, award-winning “Accepting the Challenge” dementia training program into Spanish, which will enhance skills, reduce stress, and improve the care of those living with and caring for dementia patients. Developed in conjunction with renowned dementia care experts Melanie Bunn and Teepa Snow approximately 20 years ago, this grant is providing for the translation services and increased outreach to support the growing Hispanic community in North Carolina. Funds will pay for translation and dubbing services for 16 modules, a Spanish language landing webpage, Spanish language community engagement and outreach marketing collateral, and the management of the entire project. The translator is also working with the master trainer team to be sure that the language matches accurately and in the Spanish dialect that is most prevalent in North Carolina. In addition to Spanish scripts and dubbing services, the training graphics will be recreated with Spanish text, and training tests and quizzes will be translated.    

The Hispanic population is particularly vulnerable due to higher rates of dementia among Hispanic Americans and the cultural and language barriers that limit their access to quality care educations. This program’s translation into Spanish will support these family caregivers by providing them with accessible, culturally appropriate trainings that enhances their skills and confidence in managing dementia care. In addition, people of color – which includes Latinos and Hispanics – make up 60% of the direct care workers population in North Carolina. Providing this workforce with accurate and informed dementia training in Spanish is critical in not only maintaining this workforce but providing continuing education to them so they can best serve their patients and clients.  While this program will allow family caregivers to access free (for North Carolina residents), self-paced online modules, the Spanish-speaking professional caregivers will receive CEU-accredited training to improve their caregiving techniques and patient care within their communities.    

Learn more about the work of the Dementia Alliance of North Carolina’s Accepting the Challenge program.