South Dakota State Alzheimer’s Plan Overview
Established in 2015, the South Dakota Alzheimer’s Disease State Plan Work Group expanded in April 2017 to include a larger group of stakeholders charged with creating the state’s response to Alzheimer’s. The Work Group conducted a comprehensive needs assessment and hosted town halls across the state, which were supported by a South Dakota Community Foundation Community Innovation Grant. In June 2018, the South Dakota State Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias was published.
South Dakota 2025 Policy Priorities
Funding for the Establishment of a Respite Care Program
27,000 caregivers in South Dakota provided 34 million hours of unpaid care in 2024, often enabling their loved ones living with dementia to live in the community instead of moving into more costly residential long-term care. However, over half of caregivers in South Dakota are living with chronic health conditions. Respite care provides necessary relief to family caregivers, allowing the caregiver to take care of personal medical issues, complete tasks outside of the home, or simply enjoy time off from the demands of caregiving. Presently, limited respite care options are available for caregivers in South Dakota. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state lawmakers to allocate funding for a dementia caregiver respite pilot program to increase the availability of dementia respite care options in the state.
Incorporate Dementia in the State Aging Plan
For individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia, developing and implementing a timely and effective state response to this disease is critical. South Dakota needs to ensure all relevant statewide plans include the needs of individuals living with dementia and their families when they are developed or updated. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on South Dakota’s Department of Human Services to include Alzheimer’s and other dementia as a key priority in the State Plan on Aging for 2025-2029. The upcoming plan should aim to increase availability and utilization of dementia-specific data, support increased access to dementia-competent home and community-based services, and recognize the unique care needs of people living with dementia and their caregivers.
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16,500
people living with Alzheimer’s in South Dakota
27,000
South Dakotans are providing unpaid care
$182 Million
Medicaid cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s (2020)
396
deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2021
13%
in hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia
193.3%
increase of geriatricians in South Dakota needed to meet the demand in 2050
Resources to Drive Change in South Dakota
The following resources developed by AIM and the Alzheimer’s Association will help you learn more about the issues impacting people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, how South Dakota policymakers are addressing these gaps, and how you can help drive change.