September 17, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

The need for Alzheimer's research funding, the link between Alzheimer's funding and lowering healthcare costs, and the latest updates on long-term care policy (read more).  

 

Must reads

  • A September 16, 2013 USA Today opinion piece by Don Campbell argued for increased Alzheimer's research funding. According to Campbell, "It's time we launched a serious war on Alzheimer's disease. Right now, we're pursuing a "national plan to address" Alzheimer's, passed by Congress two years ago. It's a timid plan, having produced a lot of bureaucratic boilerplate but only a paltry increase in federal funding for research into the insidious disease…In Washington, the squeakiest wheel gets the most grease, and I have a solution: Local Alzheimer's associations around the country should request — no, demand — that their U.S. represenatives and senators spend one hour, without aides or professional escorts, wandering around an advanced-stage Alzheimer's ward. Not only would that quickly loosen federal purse strings for Alzheimer's research, those purse strings would virtually disappear. Guaranteed."
  • A September 16, 2013 Hernando Today article highlighted the work of Lori LaBey to raise awareness of Alzheimer's through her online radio series "Alzheimer's Speaks." According to the article, "Having dealt with this disease in her family for so many decades, LaBey undertook an aggressive campaign to help educate others and spread awareness to the general public. A couple of years ago she began hosting the first radio show that has ever been completely dedicated to Alzheimer's and other dementia-related diseases. It's called "Alzheimer's Speaks," and has now been named the "#1 online influence for Alzheimer's" by Dr. Oz and Sharecare." 
  • A September 13, 2013 Context Florida article highlighted the need to fund Alzheimer's research in the effort to curb overall healthcare costs. According to the article, "Last year, Alzheimer’s cost Medicare $107 billion, and Medicaid $35 billion. This doesn’t take into account the $35 billion imposed on families, or costs incurred by private insurers or charities. It also doesn’t factor in the $216 billion value of unpaid family care and lost caregiver employment last year. And no dollar amount explains how much Alzheimer’s just plain sucks. The solution is to pay for research. This means the National Institutes of Health needs to set priorities, and the Food & Drug Administration must streamline the process that channels discoveries to market."
Long-term care
  • A September 13, 2013 New York Times article reported that "The federal Commission on Long-Term Care on Friday issued more than two dozen recommendations meant to bolster services for older Americans and people with disabilities, but stopped short of endorsing a new public or private program to help families pay for home health care, custodial care, assisted living or nursing home services." According to James Firman, president of the National Council on Aging, "We’re disappointed...They kind of ducked the most important issue.” Also covered by: Yahoo! NewsThe Wall Street JournalAARPKaiser Health NewsUS News & World Report, and others.