Early this morning the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA). This historic piece of legislation is now on its way to be signed by the President.
On December 8th, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a forum to hear thoughts from leading experts on Alzheimer’s on how to improve quality of care for those suffering from the disease. Loren Shook, President and CEO of Silverado Senior Living, was invited to address the committee. He shared Silverado’s person-centered culture and fielded questions by members of the committee on challenges the healthcare industry is facing in adequately caring for those with Alzheimer’s. This same day the Senate approved NAPA with unanimous consent.
The Orange County Register took a closer look at Mr. Shook’s commentary in an interview by author and national columnist Jane Glenn Haas.
Read the interview here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/home-280251-alzheimer-people.html
Read Mr. Shook’s full testimony and the research supporting it here: http://www.silveradosenior.com/research
.
.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, nearly 16 million Americans are expected to have Alzheimer’s by 2050. This has prompted legislators to act quickly on a national strategy to combat this looming epidemic. Senator Bayh (D-IN) introduced the National Alzheimer’s Project Act on February 24, 2010 with these purposes in mind:
- Accelerate the development of treatments that would prevent, halt, or reverse the course of Alzheimer’s.
- Create and maintain an integrated national plan to overcome Alzheimer’s.
- Help to coordinate the health care and treatment of citizens with Alzheimer’s.
- Ensure the inclusion of ethnic and racial populations that are at higher risk for Alzheimer’s or least likely to receive care in clinical, research, and service efforts with the purpose of decreasing health disparities.
- Coordinate with international bodies to integrate and inform the fight against Alzheimer’s globally.
- Improve early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
