2011 
Recognizing Excellence in the Field of Aging
MindAlert Awards
Recognizing Innovations in Mental Fitness Programming for Older Adults
Sponsored by the MetLife Foundation
Deadline: October 30, 2010
Purpose
The ASA-MetLife Foundation MindAlert award program was established to recognize innovation in mental fitness programming for older adults. This award recognizes programs found in nonprofit organizations demonstrating innovation and effective application accessible to diverse communities based on research. Each should shows potential for replication in other communities by ease of application and financial feasibility.
MetLife Foundation
Established in 1976 by MetLife, the MetLife Foundation has been involved in a variety of aging-related initiatives. Since 1986, the Foundation has supported research on Alzheimer's disease through the MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research program and has contributed over $8.5 million to efforts to find a cure. In addition, the Foundation has provided support for a variety of healthy aging projects addressing issues of caregiving, intergenerational activities, mental fitness, health and wellness programs, and volunteer opportunities. MetLife Foundation supports health, education, civic and cultural programs throughout the United States. For more information about the foundation, visit www.metlife.org.
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Recognition
The Award will be presented at the annual Aging in America Conference. The winning program will receive:
- A cash awards of $1,500
- A complimentary conference registration
- A one-year complimentary membership to ASA
- An opportunity to present the program at the National Forum on Brain Fitness, held in conjunction with the AiA Annual Conference and to record a 30-minute webinar featuring their program
Descriptions of the winning programs are featured on the ASA website. The webinars of the winning programs will be made available on ASA website as well.
Click here to view webinars of past years’ winning programs.
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Eligibility
- Applicant organizations must submit a program, product or tool promoting cognitive function in later life that have been in operation or distributed for at least one year. This Award is not designated for starting or researching programs.
- Submissions are welcome from non-profit organizations located in the United States.
- Competitive applications will clearly describe innovative features of the program and demonstrate their impact on cognitive abilities of older adults and their ability to be replicated by other organizations. Applicants must have completed a recent evaluation of their programs or products.
If you have questions about eligibility, please contact Alesia Sheviakhova, Program Manager, alesias@asaging.org (415) 974-9614.
If you were a previous applicant and did not receive an award, we strongly encourage you to resubmit your application.
Examples of settings for cognitive fitness programs include senior centers; park and recreation programs; lifelong learning and adult education programs; universities and colleges; residences for elders such as nursing homes and retirement and assisted living facilities; and hospitals, clinics and home health agencies.
Examples of products or tools promoting cognitive fitness include television or radio programs, curricula, websites, books, videos, games and museum exhibits.
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Categories
One MindAlert award will be made to a program specifically focused on enhancing mental fitness for the general population of older adults.
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Criteria
Submissions will be judged on these equally weighted criteria:
- Innovation. How this program or product is new and different from others.
- Basis in research. How the program or product applies research to practice.
- Demonstration of effectiveness. How much impact the program or product has had on the knowledge or behavior of older adults or the general public, shown through evaluations, surveys or other means.
- Diversity. How the program or product has addressed diverse cultures, ethnicities, geographic locations (rural communities).
- Potential for replication. How others could easily begin or conduct a similar program or whether others have already done so. How the program is financially feasible for others to duplicate.
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Submission Requirements
All applications must be submitted online in Microsoft Word format by clicking here. Do not mail any other materials to ASA. Supplemental material will not be distributed to the review committee. Narratives in formats other than Word will not be accepted.
To prevent your narrative from being separated from the cover form, please make sure that the name of your organization appears in a header at the top of each page of the Word document. Use the name of your organization as the file name for your Word document, e.g. “area agency on aging 4A.doc”.
Make sure your narrative addresses all of the specified criteria and in the sequence requested. Use bulleted, bolded titles or subheads designating each of the submission requirements. Address every one of the criteria. Wherever you can, use specific details and quantitative data to support your statements about the program. For example, tell us how many people of which ethnicities you serve, and how you measured the impact of the program. Make sure the readers understand the impact of the program on the population served. Programs with broad impact will be viewed especially positively.
- Summary description of the program or product
(maximum 300 words)
- Narrative (up to five double-spaced pages)
- Designate under which of the three categories you wish to submit the application
- Description of applicant organization.
- Provide evidence of 501(c)(3) status by your statement and verification of the designation by listing the date of your IRS designation letter and your Federal Identification Number.
- Description of innovative program or product.
- Clearly describe the program or product.
- Tell us why it is innovative.
- Describe how it builds on research about cognitive function throughout life, if applicable. If your program is activity-based, please explain the connection between this and cognitive function.
- Describe how long the program or product has been in existence.
- Describe how many and what types of people have been served.
- Provide the budget of the program or product.
- Give evidence of the program's or product's effectiveness (e.g., testimonials, surveys or other data) if applicable.
- Describe whether the program has been replicated or how easy it would be to do so.
- Describe how the program or product addresses cultural, racial, ethnic geographically diverse older adult audiences.
NOTE: In order for your application to be fully evaluated and scored, please be sure to complete all sections of the narrative.
Deadline
Application form and supporting materials must be post mark or electronically time dated by October 30, 2010.
Contact Information
For Additional Information
Contact Alesia Sheviakhova, American Society on Aging, at
(415) 974-9614 or alesias@asaging.org.
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