Alzheimer’s Study Group Wants Alzheimer’s Czar in
the Federal Government
Gingrich, Sen. Kerrey release National Alzheimer’s
Strategic Plan to Senate Aging Committee
March 25, 2009 – The Alzheimer’s Study Group,
established by the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease,
wants an Alzheimer’s Solutions Project Office within the federal
government, according to their final report revealed this morning at a
hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging. ASG co-chairs,
former House Speaker Gingrich and Sen. Bob Kerrey, were among those
testifying at the hearing.
The National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan developed
by the group was also made available this morning on the ASG website.
With the delivery of this plan, the members of ASG will end their
service.
The plan concludes:
“Alzheimer’s disease has placed America’s future at
risk. Without substantial progress toward overcoming this disease,
millions of Americans and their families will suffer the devastating,
progressive loss that comes with Alzheimer’s. In addition, all Americans
will shoulder the fiscal burden of a costly disease that promises to
substantially increase Medicare and Medicaid spending in the years
ahead.”
The plan also recommends the establishment of The
Alzheimer’s Solutions Project, “as a way to provide a path toward
overcoming the challenges posed by Alzheimer’s.”
The group recommends three “core initiatives” to be
carried out by The Alzheimer’s Solutions Project.
1. The Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative:
As a national priority, urgently focus on
developing the capability to delay and, ultimately, prevent, Alzheimer’s
disease. This capability will depend on the advancement of development
science as well as basic research.
2. The Alzheimer’s Care Improvement Initiative:
By 2012, use value-based payments to reimburse
providers for at least 20 percent of health and social services for
people with dementia, and for half of these services by 2016.
Value-based payments will reward health care and
social services professionals for providing the coordinated care
dementia patients most need for better health and a higher quality of
life.
3. The Alzheimer’s Public-Private Partnership:
By 2010, establish an outcomes-oriented,
project-focused Alzheimer’s Solutions Project Office within the Federal
Government.
Backed by an appropriate scale of funding and
through active collaboration with other stakeholders outside the Federal
Government, this office will lead the successful implementation of the
Alzheimer’s Prevention and the Alzheimer’s Care Improvement initiatives,
together with supporting efforts.
Through the implementation and successful execution
of these initiatives, America will travel a path to a much better
world—a world without Alzheimer’s.
Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging,
Herb Kohl (D-WI), said “The Alzheimer’s Study Group has given us a good
understanding of where we are today, and where we need to go.”
He added, “The Committee will continue its work to
address the Plan’s recommendations to train and support those caregivers
on the frontlines, whether they are health professionals, direct care
workers, or family members.”
The recommendations of the National Alzheimer's
Strategic Plan were broken down into four primary categories for the
committee:
● support for research;
● translating research breakthroughs into treatment;
● ensuring quality care; and
● supporting families.
Other proposals included supplying incentives to
scientist who perform long-term research, encouraging the use of
biomarkers in clinical trials, creating care coordination among facility
or in-home caregivers, and redesigning community homes to increase
quality of life for patients.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a
member of the ASG, joined Gingrich and Kerrey in presenting the plan.
Maria Shriver, first lady of California and former
broadcast journalist, shared her own family’s experience with the
disease and offered advice to caregivers.
Larry Butcher, chairman of Alzheimer’s Community
Care in West Palm Beach, Florida, testified about the patient care model
in use at his facility, which provides specialized adult day-care
centers, family nurse consultants, education and training, 24-hour
crisis hotline, and caregiver support groups.
Legislation in support of Alzheimer's victims
Sen. Kohl was recently joined by Senators Lincoln,
Wyden, and Casey in introducing the Retooling the Health Care Workforce
for an Aging America Act, which directly addresses the Study Group’s
suggestion to implement the recommendations of last year’s Institute of
Medicine report on the impending shortage of health care workers who are
adequately trained and prepared to care for older Americans.
The legislation, according to Kohl, would expand
education and training opportunities in geriatrics and long-term care
for licensed health professionals, direct care workers, and family
caregivers. Specifically, the bill addresses the training and support
of personal and home care aides, to include specialized dementia care
training. Finally, the bill would offer training and support to an
estimated 44 million family caregivers that must provide increasingly
complex support services to frail and elderly loved ones wishing to live
at home, including those with dementia.
Another bill, introduced by Chairman Kohl and
Ranking Member Mel Martinez (R-FL), would help ensure the safe recovery
of missing seniors, particularly those with dementia. Alzheimer’s
Foundation of America estimates that more than 60 percent of those
living with Alzheimer’s are likely to wander away from their homes.
The National Silver Alert Act would create a
national program to develop, implement, and coordinate local Silver
Alert plans so that missing seniors can be returned safely to their
homes and families. Similar to the successful “Amber Alert” for
children, the Silver Alert allows families and local, state, and federal
law enforcement to quickly cooperate and coordinate when alerted of a
missing senior. Timely notification and dissemination of information
about missing seniors greatly improves the chances that they will be
found before they face serious harm.
March 25, 2009 – The Alzheimer’s Study Group,
established by the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease,
wants an Alzheimer’s Solutions Project Office within the federal
government, according to their final report revealed this morning at a
hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging. ASG co-chairs,
former House Speaker Gingrich and Sen. Bob Kerrey, were among those
testifying at the hearing.
