2023 Excellence in Memory Care Award Finalists

Insight Memory Care Center’s Excellence in Memory Care Award recognizes programs and services that are models of excellence and are positively impacting memory care in our community. The 8th Annual Award will be presented at the event on October 20th. This year we have three fantastic finalists. The winner will be announced the evening of the event!

Our finalists include:

• The Virginia Memory Project, Annie Rhodes
• Dr. Brittany Lamb
• Dr. Farrah Daly

About our Finalists

The Virginia Memory Project, Annie Rhodes

The Virginia Memory Project (VMP) is a survey for all adults in Virginia about brain health, memory and caregiving. It is the first expansive web-based brain health registry in the Commonwealth. 

Using funding from the BOLD Act, the VMP:

• Identifies hotspots of brain health concern and advocates for resources and policies that support services.
• Applies a health equity approach to demonstrate how brain health concerns disproportionately impact historically disadvantaged communities.
• Offers a direct pathway to services for any enrollee who needs support by maintaining a pipeline with caregiver and brain health support programs.

Since the creation of the VMP in 2021, more than 300,000 unique cases of ADRD (Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias) have been identified in the Commonwealth, including early onset and rare forms of dementia. Additionally, more than 17 community-focused trainings have been delivered to caregivers and individuals with memory concerns, focusing on communication with providers. Furthermore, we have fulfilled more than 50 requests for services for caregivers through our community partners.

While this is the 4th statewide ADRD registry in the country (there are similar models in South Carolina, Georgia, and West Virginia), VMP is the only registry that provides a pathway to services, includes caregivers, and encompasses people with subjective memory loss. VMP believes that the education and preventative services are as important as data-driven advocacy in envisioning a Virginia free from brain health disorders. For that reason, the project has established direct pathways to service and support caregivers and individuals with dementia.

VRP's work positively impacts memory care in several ways. First, by utilizing data, they are able to accurately ascertain how many folks are receiving care in traditional memory care settings and contrast that with the total number of individuals with a memory condition who may require memory care. Second, they are able to provide education about memory care to caregivers and people with memory concerns using our pathways to service and our education platforms. Lastly, through leadership in merging data and advocacy, they are able to inform key stakeholders at the Alzheimer's Association, Veterans Affairs, Virginia Department of Health, and within health systems about the large gap in supportive memory programming.

Learn more about The Virginia Memory Project.

Dr. Brittany Lamb

Dr. Lamb was nominated for offering an on-demand training option for care partners through her Medical Decision Plan training. Everyday Dr. Lamb cares for a person living with dementia in the ER. She sees their caregivers struggling to make decisions for them, feeling unsure, overwhelmed, and unprepared.

She has developed her course to teach caregivers what they need to know, in plain English, about the medical issues their person is most likely to face and how these conditions are treated. They then turn this knowledge into a written treatment plan made for their person to fall back on when making decisions. Her 8-Week Program helps caregivers:

• Be able to confidently communicate your person's goals with nurses, doctors, or anyone else caring for them.
• Know your person will receive the care they would want through understanding treatment options for the most common medical issues that happen in dementia and aging.
• Have created a written decision-making plan (100% adaptable over time) using Dr. Lamb's process for each medical issue you are likely to face.
• Know if you come to the hospital or ER and are forced to make a quick decision, you have a plan and knowledge to do so confidently.

Dr. Lamb is giving families the tools to be strong and confident advocates in a stressful situation.

Learn more about Dr. Lamb.

Dr. Farrah Daly

Dr. Daly was nominated for offering support in the Day Center for behavioral issues, palliative care, and other issues.

Dr. Daly is a neurologist (UVA, 2007) who is subspecialized in palliative medicine (Capital Hospice, 2009). She has worked in Northern Virginia as a hospice medical director and as a neuropalliative consultant for the last 12 years. In March 2021, she started EvenBeam Neuropalliative Care, LLC to better serve the needs of people living with neurologic disease. Dr. Daly’s practice is focused on supportive care for people living with neurologic illness. This holistic approach to illness includes:

• Giving advice on how to use medicines for better control of troubling symptoms.
• Helping to prepare for the future by describing the “road map” of how neurologic illness changes over time.
• Reviewing advance care plans and making sure they are actually consistent with a person’s goals and values.
• Providing consistent physician support from mid-stage illness through the end of life. She has provided many families with peace of mind and confidence as they travel this journey of unknowns.