Moving Conversations About Alzheimer’s Disease into Policy and Practice: An SWHR Town Hall

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a rapidly growing and costly public health crisis that has a disproportionate impact on women, and especially women of color.

Improving AD outcomes—for both patients and caregivers—requires a multi-layered approach that involves communities, clinicians, nonprofit groups, organizations, and state and federal policymakers. Achieving this shift will require not only enacting federal policies that support access to care, make early detection easier, and prioritize research investments in cognitive health, but importantly, it also requires ensuring that people in communities across the country know about AD and its risk factors, how to support their cognitive health, and how to prepare should they become a caregiver for a friend or loved one with AD or related dementias.

During this SWHR town hall event, heard from speakers about how individuals across communities can take steps to prepare for AD and how organizations and policymakers alike are taking steps to improve AD outcomes and reach diverse and underserved communities. Panelists answered questions from attendees about how we as a society can better serve different populations and reach new communities as well as learn from members of the audience about how they prefer to receive information.