Alzheimer's disease is a leading cause of death in Washington State.
Every part of our state is touched by Alzheimer's and other dementias. We are feeling the impact across Washington—on individuals and families who bear the greatest emotional and financial responsibility and on businesses through lost productivity of family caregivers.
While there is no known way to prevent or cure Alzheimer's, there are steps you can take to promote healthy aging and brain health, to improve the quality of life for those living with the disease, to ease the strain on family caregivers, and to reduce associated costs in the future.
- What is Alzheimer's disease?
- Alzheimers.gov has information and resources on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Alzheimers.gov also available in Spanish. - The Washington State Community Living Connections provides many useful resources on Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, and Memory Loss.
- When Brain Health Meets Public Health (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials)
- The Healthy Brain Initiative (CDC) provides a road map for public health to address and respond to Alzheimer's and other dementias in their communities. Listen to a short podcast to learn more.
- Road Map for Indian Country
- Data Portal—Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Aging
- Washington State 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS): People Aged 45 Years and Older (PDF)
Is it dementia or not?
- 10 Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's (Alzheimer's Association)
- Forgetfulness: Normal or Not? (National Institute of Aging)
- Memory loss isn't a normal part of aging (CDC) - This video on the CDC's Instagram explains types of memory loss that aren't a normal part of aging.
Safety
The Safety Concerns for People with Dementia Info Kit (PDF) provides information and links to resources related to:
- Home safety
- Falls prevention
- Driving
- Wandering
- Emergency preparedness
- Elder abuse & financial exploitation
Resources
In the Dementia Road Map: A Guide for Family and Care Partners you will find:
- What to expect
- Information: healthcare, lifestyle decisions, care options and legal considerations
- How families can help and prepare for the future
- Actions for each phase of dementia
- Resources: organizations and documents
The Bree Collaborative Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Report and Recommendations (PDF) offers evidence and best practice recommendations for primary care practices and systems, and their stakeholders, in the areas of:
- Diagnosis
- Ongoing care and support
- Advance care planning and palliative care
- Need for increased support and/or higher levels of care
- Preparing for potential hospitalizations
- Screening for delirium risk
The Clinical Provider Practice Tool (PDF) provides an easy-to-follow process, tools and links to resources for primary care practices to use in detecting, diagnosing and providing post-diagnostic support. It addresses:
- Identification of cognitive impairment
- Dementia diagnostic work-up
- Dementia management, including
- Diagnostic uncertainty and behavior management
- Counseling, education, support & planning
- Stimulation, activity, maximizing function
- Safety
- Advance care planning
- Medications
- Tools & Resources
This Action Guide, Connecting with AAPIs About Dementia, is for community-based organizations working to educate and empower Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities about dementia. The purpose of the guide is to share information on:
- Barriers to dementia detection, treatment, and support for the AAPI community,
- Recent findings from a research study to test culturally appropriate messages to improve early identification of dementia by engaging adult children and their families, and
- Recommendations and resources for better reaching the AAPI community.
Implementing the Healthy Brain Initiative Road Map (PDF) provides step-by-step actions to walk your organization through integrating HBI into your workflow.
This toolkit provides:
- A planning guide for public health agencies to assess current work being done to promote healthy aging and to identify opportunities to implement the 25 action items listed in the HBI.
- Checklists for each step.
- Appendices with examples of emails, documents, and resources to help your planning.