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Miami University's OMA receives national Alzheimer's legacy award

Images of volunteers working with people through the OMA program.Opening Minds through Art (OMA), developed at Miami University’s Scripps Gerontology Center, has received a 2016 Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Award in the Creative Expression category.

The awards are aimed at stimulating innovation in the field of Alzheimer's disease caregiving by recognizing and rewarding those efforts which lead the way in addressing the needs of Alzheimer's caregivers.

One award of $20,000 was given in each of the following three categories:

  • Creative Expression: Programs or projects that use novel, creative approaches to support people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their family/informal caregivers. Examples include art, music, theatre, poetry, multimedia (e.g. film, documentary, radio) or technology used for creative engagement or other types of creative expression.  
  • Diverse/Multicultural Communities: Programs or projects that address a gap or chart a new way to deliver services, support or outreach to family/informal caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias in diverse racial/ethnic, age, religious/spiritual, LGBTQ, rural/remote, limited income and other groups of caregivers with unique needs.  
  • Policy and Advocacy: Programs or projects that advocate for policy or systems changes for the benefit of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and/or their family/informal caregivers. These efforts could focus on legislation, executive or administrative changes, media or public awareness campaigns, advocacy campaigns or any other actions to strengthen public or private recognition and support of family/informal caregivers.

Elizabeth “Like” Lokon, founder and director of the Opening Minds through Art program expressed her gratitude, “This is the best present that I could wish for. This award will help our efforts in making OMA available to more people with dementia, their caregivers and volunteers.”

The award is given annually and supported by The Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation.

More information about the award is online.