Promoting Healthy Aging: Public Health as a Leader for Reducing Dementia Risk

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Eva M. J. Jackson, Alzheimer's Association; Kelly O'Brien, UsAgainst Alzheimer's; Lisa C. McGuire, Centers for Disease control and Prevention; Matthew Baumgart, Alzheimer's Association; Janelle Gore, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Katie Brandt, Harvard University; Allan I Levey, Emory University; Helen Lamont, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-09-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fppar%2Fprad011
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Public Policy and Aging Report
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 92
• End Page: 95
• Keywords: lifetime cost of care; dementia; Alzheimer's disease
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) remain a public health priority, with prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease—the most common cause of dementia—among people aged 65 years and older living in the United States expected to grow to nearly 13.8 million people by 2060 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023). ADRD are not normal aging; they impair memory and cognitive functioning, disrupting daily life. Over time, people with ADRD need increased assistance with basic activities of daily living and must rely on others for support, affecting family, friends, professional caregiving infrastructures, health and long-term care systems, and financial institutions designed to pay for care. In 2023, the formal cost of caring for people with ADRD to the health and long-term care systems in the United States is projected to total $345 billion (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023). Additionally, unpaid caregiving by family and friends was valued at nearly $339.5 billion in 2022 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023). The lifetime cost of care for a person with Alzheimer’s disease was more than double the cost of care for a person without Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023). The total formal cost of ADRD care is projected to reach around $1 trillion in 2050 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023; Zissimopoulos et al., 2014). These estimates do not consider the loss of quality of life for people with ADRD and their caregivers. It is imperative for the health of our systems and our population that public health address modifiable risk factors of ADRD.