Brain Health

Scientists now believe that the brain changes seen in Alzheimer’s and dementia may begin many years before symptoms appear, so it is more important than ever that we treat our brains as vital organs and pay attention to our brain health. That’s why we have launched a Brain Health Partnership to promote brain health.

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Brain Health Academy

A New National Goal

Brain Health Partnership

About

The risk and indications of Alzheimer’s can be recognized as much as 20 years before apparent symptoms. This is a window of opportunity to delay onset, improve overall health, lower costs, and increase clinical trial participation.

Together with our partners, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is seizing this window of opportunity to address these challenges and transform the broader landscape for brain health. We are advancing a comprehensive strategy to ensure brain health is included as an integral element of overall good health and cognitive decline is identified and addressed early.

To learn more about this work, download the full prospectus here.

Facts

Infographic

Our Goal

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for people living with or at risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To accomplish this, our strategy will work to make a “check-up from the neck up” a routine aspect of clinical care, encourage people to make lifestyle choices that reduce their risk, accelerate the widespread availability of treatments and medicines, and reduce health care costs.

brain-health-infographic

Our Strategy

Together with our partners we are building a culture of brain health and a better healthcare ecosystem. We are working to help build the prevention and care system we need, a future where:

brain health circle graph

  • Families and Communities understand the importance of their brain health and view the brain as a vital organ— monitoring cognitive well-being, raising the topic of brain health with their loved ones and care providers, taking control of their own brain health and seeking out clinical research opportunities.
  • Providers, Payers and Health Systems address brain health, early identification of cognitive impairment, and proactive, collaborative care by discussing changes in cognition with patients, tracking cognitive baselines, and guiding patients to appropriate assessments, diagnosis, referrals, and services. Systems support this by optimizing workflow and leveraging big data and analytics for better decision-making.
  • Policymakers recognize the opportunity to maximize individual health outcomes, reduce total costs and minimize disruptions to the economy, as well as drive public health by advancing policies to support early and accurate detection and diagnosis, quality care, and aggressive research.

Resources

Visit the Resources page and read the latest from UsAgainstAlzheimer's on Brain Health.

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Join the Campaign

One of the first major efforts of our Brain Health Partnership is our Campaign for Women’s Brain Health: a collaborative effort to empower women to drive fundamental change in the way we care for our brains.

Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women, and more than 60 percent of Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers are women. Our survey of more than 1,500 women found that 89% believe taking care of brain health is as important as other parts of the body, and 89% also believe that it’s something we should be talking about more. Yet few women act on brain health, and many are unsure what to do.

Join our Campaign and learn more about what it means to #BeBrainPowerful

Join the Campaign

Advisors

Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD, FAMWA
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)

Gretchen Alkema, PhD
Vice President of Policy and Communications. SCAN Foundation

Julie Anbender
Senior Advisor, Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health

Rhoda Au, PhD
Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurology and Epidemiology
Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health

Karin Bolte
Senior Director, Health Policy, National Consumers League

Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD
Founder and Chief Director, Center for Brain Health at The University of Texas at Dallas

Malaz Boustani, MD
Richard Fairbanks Professor of Aging Research, Indiana University School of Medicine

Bruce Chernof, MD, FACP
President and CEO, SCAN Foundation

Lindsay Chura, PhD
Senior Policy Advisor and Chief Scientific Officer, Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH), AARP

Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD
Director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Science

Susan Dentzer
Visiting Fellow, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy

Nancy-Ann DeParle
Partner, Consonance Capital Partners/(Previously) White House Office of Health Reform

Jo Ann Jenkins
CEO, AARP

Shaliaja Korukonda
Senior Director, Global Marketing, Neurology Business Group, Eisai

Corinna E. Lathan, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair, AnthroTronix, Inc.

Sarah Lenz Lock, JD
Senior Vice President for Policy, AARP;
Executive Director, Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH)

Natalia Loskutova, MD, PhD
Senior Scientist and Director of Evaluation, National Research Network, American Academy of Family Physicians

Brendan Manquin
Vice President, US Alzheimer’s Franchise, Biogen

William Mansbach, PhD
Founder and CEO, Mansbach Health Tools LLC

Katie Maslow, MSW
Visiting Scholar, Gerontological Society of America (GSA)

Lisa McGuire, PhD
Lead, Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Aging Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Thomas J. McInerney
President and CEO, Genworth Financial, Inc.
 
Bill Novelli
Professor, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University

Michael Monson
Senior Vice President Medicaid & Complex Care at Centene Corporation Kevin Donnellan
Chief of Staff, AARP

Linda Elam, PhD, MPH
Plan President, Amerigroup/D.C. Medicaid

Howard Fillit, MD
Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)

Lori Frank, PhD
Senior Behavioral Scientist, RAND Corporation

Jill Goldstein, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Executive Director, Women, Heart, and Brain Global Initiative

Philip B. Gorelick, MD, MPH
Adjunct Professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Glenda Greenwald
Founder and President Aspen Brain Institute

Henry Harbin, MD
Adviser/Board member, Brain Futures Inc.; Former CEO Magellan Health Services

Katherine Hayes, JD
Director of Health Policy, Bipartisan Policy Center

Karin Hellsvik
Director, Global Patient Advocacy, Biogen

Marsha Henderson
Former Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health and Director of the Office of Women’s Health (OWH), U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Richard S. Isaacson, MD
Weill Cornell Medical College/New York-Presbyterian Hospital Director, Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Weill Cornell Memory Disorders Program

Dean Ornish, MD Founder and President, Preventive Medicine Research Institute

Cheryl Phillips, MD, AGSF
President and CEO, SNP Alliance

Kathleen Sebelius, MPA
CEO, Sebelius Resources LLC;
Former Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Obama

Nora Super, MPA
Senior Director, Center for the Future of Aging, Milken Institute

Pierre N. Tariot, MD
Director, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and Research Professor of Psychiatry University of Arizona College of Medicine

Jürgen Unützer, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington; Founder, AIMS Center, University of Washington

Liz Walsh
Anne Tumlinson Innovations

Charlotte Yeh, MD
Chief Medical Officer, AARP Services, Inc.

Take Action

Center for Brain Health Equity

The Brain Health Partnership

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are among the twenty-first century’s greatest health, social, and economic challenges facing the United States and the world. Today, 5.7 million Americans are living with the disease, at a national cost of more than $275 billion. As the population ages, this staggering impact will only grow. By 2050, prevalence is projected to soar to nearly 14 million, and costs are set to rise to more than $1 trillion. If the U.S. continues on its current course, these devastating effects will reach levels that are unsustainable for our nation’s future.

Corporate Partners

News and Resources

  • March 31, 2021

    New Brain Health Guide with Memory Questionnaire Addresses Immense Need for Brain Health Information and Insights about Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease

    Millions of Americans who worry about memory or brain health now have...

    Read more
  • November 06, 2020

    UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Urges FDA to Approve Aducanumab to Give More Time and New Hope to People with Early Stage Alzheimer’s

    Washington, D.C. (November 6, 2020) – UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2) today called for federal...

    Read more
  • Lynda Everman and Don Wendorf

    Supporting Families Living with Dementia

    November is both National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers...

    Read more