WOMEN ’S BRAIN HEALTH SERIES: Empathy Gap: Americans Impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease and Candidates Running for National Office

Mary WoolleyPresident and CEOResearch!America
Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are women. In addition, more women than men shoulder the burden of caring for someone with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. A recent poll commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Association found that more than half (53%) of women with children under age 18 felt that caregiving for someone with Alzheimer’s disease was more challenging than caring for children. By the year 2050, it is estimated that 13.8 million people age 65 and older in the U.S. will have Alzheimer’s – equivalent to the entire combined population of New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. Given the prevalence of Alzheimer’s and the emotional toll of the disease, it is puzzling that so many candidates running for national office have been essentially silent about what they would do, if elected, to combat this debilitating disease.
Maybe caregivers are just too exhausted, and patients unable, to be stronger advocates for making defeat of this dreadful disease a priority for candidates. But even if they aren’t hearing about Alzheimer’s from people in their own extended families and from among their constituents, there’s another reason candidates should care: Alzheimer’s will bankrupt our nation. A recent Alzheimer’s Association report calculated that total annual payments for health care, long-term care and hospice care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - September 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Health Women Women's Health Source Type: blogs