In September, more than 50 experts across the state began working to advise the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias State Plan Task Force, which was created during the 2013 legislative session. Georgia has joined more than 40 other states to address issues surrounding the growing number of people who have dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“It’s about time,” said Dr. Toni P. Miles, Ph.D., director of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health. “This is a big deal that states nationwide have finally decided that we need a response to the growing number of Alzheimer’s patients. I couldn’t be happier that we are thinking about these issues in a formal way.”
Georgia’s task force was influenced by the National Alzheimer’s Project Act of 2011, which required the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish the National Alzheimer’s Project to create a plan, coordinate research and improve the care and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias State Plan Task Force is a joint effort of the Department of Human Services, the Division of Aging Services and the Department of Health.
“We owe much to (state) Sen. Renee Unterman, a nurse by training, who pushed for the creation of this task force,” Miles said.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that about 120,000 people have some form of dementia in Georgia and projects that figure to leap to 160,000 by 2025.
“Counting the number of people with Alzheimer’s and projecting how it will grow isn’t as easy as it sounds,” said Miles, who is serving on the health care research and data committee that is advising the task force. “Georgia has a special issue in that it is a retirement destination, so we aren’t sure how rapidly the elderly population is going to grow. Also, we don’t want to just count people, but to count them with an eye toward the impact that growing numbers will have on local communities and resources.”
Miles believes her committee will recommend compiling a statewide registry to help the task force plan for the future.
“The problem that you don’t measure is one you don’t see coming,” she said. “But such a registry would require funding.”
Other committees are approaching the issues from the perspectives of health care, medicine, law enforcement, work force development and service delivery. The task force is looking at how to serve this population in a better and more cost-effective way, as well as educating the public and the work force about these diseases.
Miles is encouraged that the public and legislators are becoming more aware of the problem. In the last legislative session, HB 78 tightened laws concerning elder abuse. More people, such as EMTs and ministers, now have the responsibility to report elder abuse and the crime is now a felony.
While the bill gives law enforcement more leverage to go after abusers, it doesn’t solve the related problem of housing.
“If a child is abused, you take them out of the home, but there is nowhere to take abused adults. We need a network of emergency housing,” Miles said.
The task force expects to craft its proposals and recommend legislation by March 2014.
“One thing we believe that is doable right away is a general bill that says Georgia is committed to aging issues, maybe enhanced with a day of support. If voters are aware and advocating for this issue, it gives us a pathway to other legislation,” Miles said.
She believes Georgia will benefit from having waited to form its task force, which will be able to look at different models and adopt best practices.
“This isn’t the time for fear, but for doing. I’m excited to be part of the process,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been training for it for my whole life and am glad to have lived long enough to be part of the solution.”
