State plan targets rising threat, cost of Alzheimer's
Public health and political officials are mounting a campaign for a statewide plan to address the rising threat of degenerative mental illnesses in Maine.
On Thursday, a task force created by a 2011 bill, from Sen. Margaret Craven, announced its findings about Alzheimer's and dementia, the Bangor Daily News reported.
By 2020, the number of Mainers living with either disease is expected to increase from 37,000 to 53,000.
That increase is a result of demographic trends that forecast Maine's 65-to-75-year-old age group to grow by 77% in the next 10 years. Nationally, one in eight people over 65 has Alzheimer's.
Already, the task force found, the value of unpaid care for those afflicted with the diseases — by family members or other unpaid caregivers — is around $900 million, as Medicare and Medicaid does not often cover the full costs of the disease.
Following 11 months of study, the state plan lays out four top priorities for public health approaches to treating Alzheimer's and related diseases. Those approaches include education about the disease, encouraging earlier diagnosis and treatment, offering better support and education to paid and unpaid caregivers and improving access to long-term heath care, a particular problem for remote and rural areas of the state.
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