National Plan to Overcome Alzheimer's Disease Takes Shape

Abstract

WASHINGTON – Members of a national advisory council on Alzheimer's disease have identified preliminary goals and specific recommendations for a national strategic plan to slow or even halt the expected rise in new cases. The plan aims to prevent and effectively treat the disease by as early as 2025. Its goals include enhancing care quality and efficiency, expanding patient and family support, enhancing public awareness and engagement, and improving data to track disease progress. The plan is part of the National Alzheimer's Project Act that was signed into law on Jan. 4, 2011, by President Obama. The law established the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services and requires the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the advisory council to create and maintain a national plan to overcome Alzheimer's disease. Members of the council's subgroups on long-term services and supports (LTSS), clinical care, and research met Jan. 17–18 and recommended that the process of diagnosis should include engaging the patient and family in advance care planning. End-of-life considerations should be incorporated into all surveillance and quality indicators. Council members recommended that federal funds be made available to support a lead agency in every state to coordinate all available LTSS provided through various public and private mechanisms. The clinical care subgroup said the overall goal of clinical care is to ensure that individuals with Alzheimer's have their disease detected and diagnosed at an early stage, receive care planning, and have access to coordinated and high-quality health care throughout the course of the disease. In particular, members recommended changes to Medicare coverage and physician reimbursement to encourage the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and to provide care planning to diagnosed individuals and their caregivers. In addition, quality indicators for the care and treatment of individuals with Alzheimer's should be developed. The subgroup also recommended addressing palliative care by forming a blue-ribbon panel of experts to recommend one or more models of care for people with advancing dementia. Members also recommended a specific round of fedreal grants for pilot projects to reduce potentially preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations for individuals with Alzheimer's, as well as development of new ways to improve hospital care for people with dementia. Greater funding and incentives should be offered to promote careers in geriatric specialties, the subgroup noted. The research subgroup called for: •Research resource to match the growing impact of the disease on society.•Faster identification and validation of therapeutic targets and of testing the efficacy and safety of interventions.• Exploring incentives for private industry to invest in disease-modifying interventions, possibly including tax reform, patent-law reform, and enhanced market exclusivity for products that target Alzheimer's disease.The council is scheduled to meet again on April 17, 2012. A final draft is expected to be released in late spring 2012.