Congress recently approved a $226 million increase in Alzheimer’s and dementia research, and some states are already taking advantage.
The funding is going toward the National Institutes of Health, with an additional $33 million dedicated to the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is “designed to create a uniform national public health infrastructure with a focus on issues such as increasing early detection and diagnosis, risk reduction, prevention of avoidable hospitalizations, and supporting dementia caregiving.”
The Arkansas Department of Health, for example, plans to use the money to respond to the state’s growing Alzheimer’s and dementia population. According to 5 News, David Cook, senior policy manager for the Alzheimer’s Association, considers the extra funding toward the BOLD Act in particular to be critical to Arkansas.
Although Cook recently told Arkansas Money and Politics that previous state Alzheimer’s programs have shown success, he said there’s still a need for additional funding.
“We’ve learned who hasn’t been able to access grant funding,” he told the news site. “The Delta and rural Arkansas are mostly underserved, so we have access issues in those parts of the state that we need to overcome. We have to expand access to those services that people desperately need.”
The state, which received a $220,000 grant in 2021 toward Alzheimer’s management, now has 58,000 residents over 65 living with the disease.
The Iowa Alzheimer’s Association is also seeking more government assistance. According to the Quad City Times, advocates recently took to the state’s capital, asking lawmakers to place dementia service specialists at each of the six Area Agencies on Aging. They also advocated for a review and update every three to five years of the Alzheimer’s State Plan.
The Quad City Times reported approximately 66,000 people over 65 are living with Alzheimer’s in the state. Iowa Alzheimer’s Association Executive Director Doug Bickford is seeking more specialists as the number of older adults living with the disease is only expected to rise.
“We need a 446% increase in geriatricians to meet the expected demand by 2050 if treatments don’t advance further than they are right now,” he said. “This is dire stuff.”
We need a 446% increase in geriatricians to meet the expected demand by 2050 if treatments don’t advance further than they are right now.
Missouri also reported a need for the government funding, as the state’s Alzheimer’s Task Force recently released a list of recommendations for how to handle the aging population. According the Springfield News-Leader, these recommendations include “increased funding for respite services and public health efforts, and the establishment of a statewide dementia services coordinator.”
The Alzheimer’s Association reported more than 120,000 people in Missouri are living with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Across the country, the organization reports more than 6 million cases, which is projected to climb to 13 million by 2050.
To find out what your state is doing to support Alzheimer’s care and research, visit your local Alzheimer’s Association chapter or talk to your state legislature about existing and upcoming federally funded programs.
