Endorsed by the American Senior Fitness Association:
Brain Health Education and Screening Project
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Program Overview
NeoCORTA is seeking partners to host a novel brain health education and screening program for people age 65 and above. Because we are applying for a multi-million dollar federal grant, this program will be absolutely free of charge to host organizations and their clients/members.
In short, this initiative will empower older adults with the practical, evidence-based guidance they need to maintain and improve their brain health. The specifics will be customized to suit the needs of each partner organization, but there are five basic components to the program:
Outreach/Education: NeoCORTA will visit each partner site to deliver a free brain health seminar and/or to help generate interest for the brain health screening program. We will also provide high quality brain health educational materials to each site/group.
Self-Assessment: Individuals who choose to participate will complete a self-paced brain health and lifestyle questionnaire. The questionnaire takes about 30 minutes to complete and can be submitted to NeoCORTA either online or via the US mail.
Personal Report: Each participant will receive a 15-page Personal Brain Fitness Report that is written in plain English. It explains the person’s current brain health status as well as their key risk factors (if any). Most importantly, it provides a practical, highly personalized, evidence-based action plan for improving the person’s brain health.
Follow-up: If participants wish to discuss any aspect of their reports, they can schedule a free consultation with one of our brain health counselors. Thereafter, these counselors will also check in periodically with each participant and encourage them to complete a free follow-up assessment after 12 months.
Aggregate Reporting: Each partner organization will receive an anonymous, aggregate-level report which provides insights into your population’s strengths/weaknesses, key risk factors, and most pressing needs. The 12-month follow-up report will show how your population’s profile and needs are changing over time.
Implementation will require minimal effort from partner organizations. NeoCORTA will provide an event manager, promotional tools, presenters, brain health counselors, and phone-based support for participants. All you provide is the venue and/or access to prospective participants.
Benefits for Partner Organizations
Since NeoCORTA is applying for a multi-year federal grant, this program will be free of charge to partner organizations and their clients/members. Meanwhile, serving as a partner will provide substantial benefits to your group/organization. Key benefits include the following:
Improved Well-being: Partnering with NeoCORTA is a simple way to improve the health of your clients/members. The program will educate them about their brain health and encourage them to adopt brain healthy lifestyles.
New Insights: The anonymous, aggregate-level reports provide powerful data about your population that is otherwise difficult and expensive to generate. This data can help you to gauge the impact of your existing programs and to guide your strategic planning efforts.
Free PR: By making a valuable new service available to your clients/members, you will increase your organization’s profile and generate goodwill in the community.
In short, host organizations will enjoy tremendous benefits. The program will cost you nothing and will require minimal time and effort from you.
Eligibility
We are interested in partnering with all kinds of groups/organizations which serve adults age 65 and above. Partners may be for-profits, non-profits, or government entities. Senior centers, social service agencies, retirement communities, church groups, advocacy groups, and others are encouraged to apply. Partners do NOT need to have a physical facility, since outreach and education efforts can be implemented in other ways if needed (e.g., direct mail, email announcements, etc.).
How to Apply
If your group/organization is interested in offering a free brain health education and screening program to its clients/members, just go to https://www.neocorta.com/screeningproject and enter your contact information. Signing up is easy and takes only a few minutes.
By completing the sign-up page, you are NOT obligated to participate in the Brain Health Education and Screening Project. Rather, it simply reserves a slot for your group/organization on our waitlist. If/when NeoCORTA’s grant application is approved, we will contact you to discuss the program in more detail and to more formally confirm timing and commitment with you.
We expect very high demand for this program, so we encourage you to complete the sign-up form as soon as possible. Sign-ups will be accepted continuously, but we strongly recommend that you complete your submission no later than January 20, 2012.
About NeoCORTA
NeoCORTA was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Washington, DC. Our mission is to empower adults of all ages with the unbiased, evidence-based guidance they need to maintain and improve their brain fitness. We are dedicated to being a socially responsible business and are focused on having a positive impact on peoples’ lives.
NeoCORTA’s service has been endorsed by the American Senior Fitness Association (July 2010). More recently, NeoCORTA was selected by the US Department of Defense for the DCAPS Project, a multi-year contract aimed at helping Service members and their families to better manage their psychological health.
The linchpin to NeoCORTA’s service is the Brain Fitness Check-up, an internet-based toolkit which allows adults to quickly and privately assess themselves on 9 direct measures of cognitive and emotional well-being. Because we believe strongly in the whole-person approach to wellness, the Check-up also assesses 23 other factors that are known to influence a person’s brain fitness over time (e.g., socialization patterns, physical activity levels, medical and functional status, etc.).
NeoCORTA uses the data provided to quantify each person’s cognitive and emotional status, as well as their potential brain health risk factors. We also generate a 15-page Personal Brain Fitness Report that summarizes and explains each person’s results in plain English. Most importantly, this Report includes a carefully tailored list of the specific actions and/or changes (e.g., diet, physical activity, stress reduction activities, etc.) that will best address each person’s unique needs, goals, and preferences.
NeoCORTA’s assessment and analytical tools were designed by Dr. Jay Chyung, a Harvard-trained MD and PhD (neurobiology) whose doctoral research focused on the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Most recently, Dr. Chyung served as Medical Director at Healthways, the $700 million health and wellness company that runs the SilverSneakers program. NeoCORTA’s tools have been further refined by a team of experts working under the leadership of Dr. Ryan McKim, a licensed neuropsychologist.
