Summary of Findings: UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST Survey on Medicare (CMS) Coverage Decision

Summary of Findings: UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST Survey on Medicare (CMS) Coverage Decision February 7, 2022 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s fielded a survey, January 27-February 2, 2022, with responses from 752 people who were diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)/Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or another dementia, ‘at risk’ for diagnosis, current/former caregivers and those interested in brain health Key overall findings include: 2/3 of respondents were unaware (43%) or unsure (20%) of the CMS decision Of the group that was aware of the CMS decision, few respondents were able to articulate a full awareness of the implications in an open-ended response; many of those respondents were

Remembering ClergyAgainstAlzheimer’s Founder, Dr. Richard L. Morgan

The movement to end Alzheimer’s disease has lost a giant. Dr. Richard L. Morgan passed away at age 93 on March 25. Dr. Morgan was a Presbyterian minister, prolific author, brilliant thinker, and a founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Clergy Network , which he called, “The legacy of the last chapter of my life.” What a life and what a legacy. Dr. Morgan cared deeply about those living with dementia and their families. He put this into action in ways small and large, including writing extensively on aging and spirituality, and ministering to caregivers. He believed that people with dementia could –

Am I Repeating Myself? A Former Caregiver’s Angst about Alzheimer’s

By Meryl Comer I think most people are worried about their own risk if they have seen Alzheimer’s in their family. As a former 24-year caregiver for both my husband and mother, I worry all the time. When I walk up the steps to retrieve something and pause to try to remember what it was, I fear that I have begun to slip. When I mistakenly walk out without my house keys or misplace jewelry or money tucked away for safekeeping, I panic. Is this the beginning? Other memories are so vivid that I feel as if they happened just

Congress Should Act: Paid Leave for Caregivers Essential in the Battle with Dementia

“I got plenty of money; it’s just tied up in debt,” as the saying goes. Humor often has a way of getting to the point. The debt and associated burdens are mounting at staggering levels for caregivers of those afflicted with Alzheimer’s, other forms of dementia, and other serious illnesses. There are an estimated 53 million family caregivers in the United States—16 million providing dementia care who too often are caught in an unsustainable conflict between caregiving and work responsibilities. I know this path well—first as a family caregiver, and now as one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and being helped by

A Letter to Doctors: Talk with Your Patients about Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Disease

Editor’s note: This blog post is an open letter to the medical community from UsAgainstAlzheimer’s board member Greg O’Brien, who suffers from and lives daily with Alzheimer’s, about how doctors can improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other dementias; care in the early stages of the disease; and the critical importance of a candid dialogue about brain health. Dear Primary Care and Family Doctors, As T.S. Eliot has said: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.” Alzheimer’s has been