KOHL STATEMENT ON NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH
Aging Committee Chair Encourages Participation in National Memory Screening Day
WASHINGTON - Today U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) released the following statement in support of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month.
"Studies show that without a cure, or at least some treatment to delay the progression of Alzheimer's, there will be almost a half million new cases of the disease each year by 2010. This disease is a growing national crisis and we must commit to addressing it in the most comprehensive way possible by increasing support for research, raising Alzheimer's awareness, and helping families living with the disease. Tackling Alzheimer's will require a serious investment in the search for new treatments, and I have been joined by many of my Senate colleagues in the fight for increased research funding in order to slow the onset of the disease and eventually find a cure."
Earlier this year, Chairman Kohl introduced the Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act (S. 245) to provide training and support to family caregivers who care for loved ones, including those that are living with the disease. Almost 10 million Americans are caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. They often perform the same functions as a professional caregiver, but they do so voluntarily and with little or no training or access to broader support services. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee incorporated provisions from S. 245 in its health care reform legislation.
On November 17, Americans are invited to participate in free confidential memory screenings at over 2,000 community sites nationwide as part of National Memory Screening Day. The screenings are administered by qualified healthcare professionals as part of the annual initiative sponsored by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA). The face-to-face screening, conducted by a qualified healthcare professional, takes about five minutes to administer and consists of a series of questions and/or tasks. Screening sites include doctor's offices, senior centers, assisted living facilities and certain pharmacy locations. To find a screening site in your area, go to http://www.afascreenings.org/index.php .
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More on National Memory Screening Day can be found here: http://www.nationalmemoryscreening.org/
