Sarasota is the principal city of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the seat of Sarasota County. Successful network automation and efficiency may serve as the basis for expansion into other markets across the country in the long run.

The continuum of care (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and the various support services) for patients with dementia is often uncoordinated, and therefore, unable to meet the comprehensive needs of the patient and the caregiver. Prizemaker believes there is an opportunity to improve the continuum of care by creating a network to: 1) Improve the education of patients, caregivers, and primary care physicians, 2) Minimize the public stigma through education and awareness, and 3) Improve the communication and coordination between all parties involved in the management of dementia patients. This “network” may be technology-driven, relationship-driven or a combination of both, and should focus on bringing all the “interested parties” together to improve the management of the dementia patient and the caregiver. Prizemaker would like to understand how to develop a coordinated effort among all interested parties (physicians, patients, caregivers, diagnostic services, adult day care, assisted living, home health, nursing home, clinical research, etc.) to create a true continuum of care for patients with dementia and to do so at a community level. Prizemaker intends to use the winning solution as an example to aid in the future development of a network which can be adapted for use in several communities. Therefore, the Prizemaker places a premium on the winning solution also being a cost-efficient, replicable approach to the delivery of health education services and social contacts in the targeted population if such an example exists. SEE ATTACHED PDF DOCUMENT FOR MORE.

Prizemaker will measure success by the number of viable examples identified by the problem solver which most closely match the ideal network described above. Acceptable examples will include a description of the network, include one or more of the three main characteristics of interest (Virtual Disease Management Assistance (VDMA), Cognitive Fitness and Assessment (CFA), and Social Networking (SN)). Winning solutions hold the potential to provide earlier diagnosis, education, and support for persons afflicted with cognitive impairment and their family members and caregivers in the Sarasota region. The chosen systems may be replicated in other communities.