A new report released earlier this week by the Alzheimer’s Association sheds light on the various needs enactment of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act should address.  Ten key challenges emerge from the report that will require additional attention.

Alzheimer’s Association’s Alzheimer’s from the Frontlines: Challenges a National Alzheimer’s Plan Must Address offers views from individuals across the country who participated in a public input process to help shape enactment of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act passed earlier this year.  More than 43,000 people from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico engaged in the public input process, including people living with the disease, caregivers, families, researchers, health care professionals, community leaders and many others. 

Ten key challenges emerged repeatedly throughout the public input process, among them increasing awareness of the impact of Alzheimer’s; fostering an environment that offers more effective treatments faster; providing better care throughout the disease process; ensuring better support today for caregivers; and reducing the disparities that exist among diverse and underserved communities.

“It’s clear that those who participated in these input sessions do not want this opportunity to be a symbolic overture but instead the beginning of real, transformational action,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer’s Association vice president of public policy. “We hope those developing the National Alzheimer’s Plan will be inspired and guided by the challenges, experiences and needs echoed throughout the report.”

Today, an estimated 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and by 2050 as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease. Beyond the sheer numbers of lives touched by the disease, Alzheimer’s will also be a financial albatross to the nation’s health care system, surpassing $1 trillion in costs annually by mid-century unless the trajectory of the disease is changed.

“ALFA is pleased by the extensive work the Alzheimer’s Association put into collecting this valuable feedback,” said Richard P. Grimes, president and CEO of ALFA.  “ALFA and many other groups worked with the Alzheimer’s Association to ensure passage of NAPA.  The time for our nation to consider strategies for both Alzheimer’s care and finding a cure has come.  ALFA and its members look forward to offering ideas as the plan takes shape.”

Read the full text of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Alzheimer’s from the Frontlines: Challenges a National Alzheimer’s Plan Must Address report.


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