Global to local initiatives to address alzheimer's disease and dementia: Plans and priorities

Engaging the public health community in promoting cognitive functioning and addressing dementia requires an inclusive and strategic approach at multiple levels of influence. Independence and quality of life for millions depends on the nation's collective ability to prevent and treat cognitive impairment and to promote cognitive functioning for individuals living in our diverse communities. In the United States, we have a Congressional initiative, the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA; Public Law 111-375), that calls for a plan to address the rapidly escalating crisis of Alzheimer's disease. As part of NAPA's implementation, the first National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease in the United States was released in 2012 and provides a blueprint for coordinating Alzheimer's disease efforts at the national level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Alzheimer's Association in partnership with numerous state and national partners are creating a plan, The Healthy Brain Initiative: The Public Health Road Map for State and National Partnerships, 2013–2018, that focuses on how state and local public health and their partners could promote cognitive functioning, address cognitive impairment for individuals living in the community, and help meet the wide-ranging needs of care partners and the older adults with dementia. Four panel presentations will describe the following: 1) Alzheimer's disease around the world; 2) national initiatives from the United States; 3) state and local public health initiatives from the United States; and 4) dementia initiatives focusing on practice, research, and policy.