Evidence with its feet on the ground.

Embrace is built through real work with Families, Professionals, leaders, and communities. We report what the evidence supports—and keep the next questions visible.

Early results show that Families carried the learning home.

Dementia Essentials · 2025

Across 14 Dementia Essentials sessions, 83 people participated. Follow-up showed that the experience was not only remembered—it was being used.

14 community sessions
83 participants reached
85% reported using program tools again
92% reported using program language
5 counties in the current regional pathway

Next: expand follow-up and pathway measures.

Results describe participant reach and reported use of Dementia Essentials tools and language. They do not establish healthcare utilization, workforce, or cost outcomes.

“I have learned more from her in the last month than I have in over 30 years of therapy. The tools are easy to use and remember.”

— Peer support group participant

What implementation taught us.

The Western Unity Project created real-world learning across care settings and rural communities. Several findings now shape the next phase of Embrace:

Simply offering a program does not create participation
Trusted relationships, host sites, and warm invitations improve engagement
Staff need protected space to talk, sort, reflect, and practice
Interruptions, coverage, room conditions, and time affect learning fidelity
Leadership language and follow-through shape whether learning can stick
Relationship infrastructure can become the foundation for future Caregiver support

Delivered

A session occurred. People were present. Content was shared.

That matters—but it does not tell us whether the setting, time, staffing, follow-through, and organizational conditions allowed the full model to be tested.

Fully tested

The intended experience was delivered with the conditions needed for participation, practice, reflection, and follow-up.

Embrace will not confuse activity with proof. Unexpected outcomes are information about the model and the conditions around it.

What the evidence supports today

Families use the language and tools. Relationships drive participation. Conditions shape implementation.

Those are meaningful findings. They are also different from proving reduced hospital readmissions, lower costs, improved workforce retention, or long-term Caregiver health outcomes.

A five-county pathway.

Embrace is expanding Dementia Essentials and connected Caregiver support across Pope, Grant, Traverse, Stevens, and Douglas counties.

The next phase can strengthen measurement around:

How Families enter the pathway and who makes the warm handoff
Whether participants connect to ongoing support after Dementia Essentials
Caregiver understanding, confidence, and use of practical tools over time
Reach, access, participation, and gaps across communities
Implementation conditions that help the model work as intended

Help build the evidence alongside the pathway.

Embrace is ready to work with partners who value honest learning, useful measures, and community implementation that grows from relationships—not inflated promises.

Evidence is not a trophy. It is a compass.

Learn what helps people use support.

Email Krisie →
320.360.4724