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Dear Editor:
Earlier this month I joined more than 1,200 advocates from across the country on Capitol Hill to meet with our legislators about the sixth-leading cause of death and most expensive disease in the county, Alzheimer’s disease. We traveled to the nation’s capital as part of the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM), the advocacy arm of the Alzheimer’s Association.
While there, I personally spoke with Congressman Jim Baird and Congresswoman Susan Brooks. I shared the story of my grandma passing away from Alzheimer’s just over one year ago and how my mom and her siblings shared caregiving duties for many years to ensure Grandma had the care and love needed during her most helpless years.
I urged Representatives Baird and Brooks to support the Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act to improve dementia care planning services through Medicare, and the Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Act to allow individuals living with dementia under the age of 60 to access programs under the Older American’s Act. I also asked for federal funding to support of recently passed BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act and an increase of $350 million for Alzheimer’s disease research at the NIH.
Alzheimer’s is the only one of the top 10 causes of death that currently cannot be prevented, slowed or cured. Research is critical to treating and ultimately stopping this devastating disease. Please contact your legislators at the state and federal levels to push for more attention to this horrific disease. You can learn more about the policies I advocated for at alzimpact.org.
Jason Barrett
Carmel