Louis Burgio, a UA research professor, said he takes research and does something all too rare - he puts it into practice.
Burgio received the 2007 Rosalynn Carter Caregiving Leadership Award - the highest award given to those in the caregiving field by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving - for his work with the Alabama REACH Intervention Project.
REACH, Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health, is an initiative started in 1995 by the National Institutes of Health to develop and test new ways for families to care for aging members living with Alzheimer's disease.
Burgio received funding from the National Institute of Health to take findings from these clinical trials and convert them into methods that people could use.
Insightful studies go unapplied in their actual field, he said. One study two years ago determined that it takes 12 to 15 years before clinical trial results go into practice, Burgio said.
"There could be some discovery - maybe a new procedure or new medication, but there is a tremendous lag before the findings actually help people out there who are suffering," he said.
Burgio partnered with state employees to take caregiving research and turn it into a workable package that actual caregivers could use and refer to. Then, they trained caregivers at a two-day workshop in Birmingham.
Burgio said the methods received tremendous positive feedback from the caregivers being educated.
"They were thrilled," Burgio said. "One of the comments made during focus groups was that this was the first time anyone asked them about a loved one with Alzheimer's disease and what problems they were experiencing."
Burgio said his program received an additional $20,000 grant to continue to improve the program.
"We received quite a bit of attention because it works," Burgio said. "That money is going to come in handy, because these projects tend to be under-funded, and we have to sort of scrape by."
Burgio also had the opportunity to meet both former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter when he received the award from the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving.
"It was a real honor," Burgio said. "I was more honored to meet [Jimmy Carter] now than during his presidency because of him winning the Nobel Peace Prize."
Burgio stressed the importance of support for caregivers, noting that there is no federal program that does so.
"There are 4 to 6 million people with Alzheimer's in this country," Burgio said. "That's going to increase to about 20 million by 2020. Right now, we're in a public health crisis, and people are not aware that there are many caregivers who are spending an incredible amount of resources for their loved ones."
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