Joplin Health Department receives grants for dementia toolkits, roadway safety

(From the Joplin Health Department)

The Joplin Health Department is the recipient of two grant awards that will serve populations with very different needs.

For the first time, the Health Department has been selected for a $1,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Social Services to boost its efforts to provide public education on dementia.

The grant will provide more than 100 dementia toolkits that will be given to area caregivers responsible for an individual with dementia. It will also support the cost of Health Department staff to receive additional dementia education training, as well as the cost of toolkit delivery. The toolkits include resources and information on navigating life with dementia and will be provided to community partner organizations that serve as distribution points such as Joplin Public Library, the Joplin Senior Center, the Area Agency on Aging, the Veteran's Administration Joplin Outpatient Clinic, and other organizations that work with adults.

A second grant from the Southwest Region of the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety (a group sponsored by the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Show Me Zero program), has also been awarded to the Health Department. The $5,000 grant will be used to provide books and educational materials to raise awareness of safe driving topics including distracted driving, impaired driving, child safety passenger seats, seatbelt usage, and pedestrian safety.

The MoDOT grant will also be used to purchase car and booster seats, which will be donated to specific community partners that transport infants and children in their care.

This is the first time the Health Department has received funding for dementia education and the third year it has received the MoDOT grant. Health DepartmentDirector Ryan Talken said grant funding is just a small portion of the budget, but when the department does secure grants, it helps accomplish the greater mission of community partnership.

“These are items that absolutely give a boost to these organizations, and help families and caregivers throughout Joplin,” Talken said. “We’re grateful to these agencies for their support of the work we’re doing to improve lives in Southwest Missouri.”

For more information on the awards or to receive these public education materials, contact the Health Department at 417-623-6122.