AUBURN, Calif. — Coinciding with Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month in June, Placer County’s Healthy Brain Initiative is launching a new advertising campaign and hosting a community event aimed at promoting healthy brain habits and encouraging dementia screening across the county.

In partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, Placer County Public Health will host a community education event June 13, focused on healthy living habits to improve brain and body health, along with warning signs of Alzheimer’s:

Date: Thursday, June 13, 2024
Time: 10 – 11:15 a.m.
Location: Lincoln Public Library – Willow Community Room, 485 Twelve Bridges Drive, Lincoln
Registration: Register at tinyurl.com/PlacerCAlzEd or call 800.272.3900 for more information. View a flyer here.

The accompanying advertising campaign, a local partnership with the California Department of Public Health’s “Take on ALZ” statewide effort, features digital and out-of-home advertisements that will run through August on various platforms, including social media, local movie theaters, medical offices and convenience stores. These advertisements are designed to raise awareness about the importance of maintaining brain health and screening for dementia.

“Living in a county where our population skews older than the state on average, the focus on this issue is important,” said Megan Sponholz, program coordinator for the Healthy Brain Initiative. “Our goal is to provide resources that will help community members make informed decisions about their brain health and recognize the early signs of dementia in themselves or loved ones.”

Placer County’s Healthy Brain Initiative is the product of two highly competitive grants totaling nearly $800,000. The county was the first in California to receive the grant from the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Association of County and City Health Officials in 2021 and one of six counties selected to be a part of the California Department of Public Health’s pilot Healthy Brain Initiative Program in 2020. Since its inception in 2020, the Healthy Brain Initiative partners have worked on a number of programs: 

• The Project Lifesaver effort with Lincoln, Rocklin and Auburn law enforcement partners, which helps officers more quickly locate someone who has wandered away from home. As an example, one search and rescue took only 30 minutes compared to the average 9 hours.
• A partnership with the Placer County Regional Transit Planning Authority to develop and implement dementia-friendly training for transit operators.
• Partnerships with Sutter Health to promote early detection and diagnosis, including educational fact cards for first responders to provide during fall-related injury calls, and supporting efforts to increase timely dementia diagnosis at the primary care level rather than relying on specialist referrals.

To learn more about this initiative and supportive community resources visit the Placer County Healthy Brain Initiative’s website at https://www.placer.ca.gov/HealthyBrains.