Ohio State Alzheimer’s Plan Overview
Following the enactment of S.B. 24 in 2019, Ohio established the Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementias Task Force to create Ohio’s first State Alzheimer’s Plan. The Task Force included advocates, caregivers, family members, health care professionals, and researchers, and was charged with conducting a needs assessment and examining the opportunities around public health, early detection and diagnosis, workforce, home and community-based services, and quality of care. After community listening sessions and virtual forums across the state, the Task Force released a Preliminary Findings Summary in September 2021, and in June 2024, the Ohio Department of Aging released the Action Plan on Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias, which aims to increase public awareness, improve access to quality care, train a dementia-capable workforce, advance dementia research and data innovation, and optimize available funding and financial supports for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
Ohio 2026 Policy Priorities
Establish a Statewide Public Awareness Campaign
More than 236,000 Ohioans are living with Alzheimer’s, but as many as half of them are not formally diagnosed. Residents across the state must understand the importance of early detection and diagnosis. Early intervention can provide individuals living with Alzheimer’s access to treatments to slow disease progression and more time to plan for the future, adopt lifestyle changes, participate in clinical trials, and live more fully with a higher quality of life for as long as possible. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state lawmakers to pass House Bill 254 to establish a statewide public awareness campaign focused on Alzheimer’s and other dementia, with a particular focus on underrepresented urban and rural populations who are disproportionately affected by the disease.
Ensure Direct Care Staff Have Dementia Training
A cornerstone of quality dementia care is ensuring that professional staff understand dementia and how to best meet the unique needs of individuals living with the disease. Currently, direct care workers, such as Certified Nursing Assistants, may have minimal dementia-specific knowledge limiting the ability to ensure quality care. The Alzheimer’s Association is urging state lawmakers to pass legislation requiring two hours of dementia-specific training annually for Certified Nursing Assistants.
Establish Certification Requirements for Memory Care Units
Individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia make up a significant portion of those using long-term care services. They also have unique needs that often make care delivery and communication more challenging. Some assisted living communities in Ohio offer memory care units for residents living with dementia. However, these units do not have additional certification requirements that qualify them to deliver specialized care to these residents, causing Ohioans in long-term care to pay more each month for services they may not be receiving. The Alzheimer’s Association is urging state lawmakers to support legislation creating a memory care certification structure for assisted living communities.
Ohio State Advocacy Day
Make your voice heard and speak out for the estimated 240,000 Ohioans currently living with Alzheimer’s disease as well as their families and caregivers at the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association Ohio Advocacy Day at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. In addition to a special luncheon program at the Statehouse Atrium at noon, attendees will have the opportunity to meet with their elected officials to discuss Alzheimer’s disease and its impact on Ohio.
Sign Up to Learn About Advocacy Opportunities in Ohio
Find My Chapter
Together, we’re making an impact. Find an Alzheimer’s Association chapter in your community for more ways to engage.
Contact Us
State Affairs Contact: Trey Addison
Phone: 614.549.6735
Email: tmaddison@alz.org
236,200
people living with Alzheimer’s in Ohio
452,000
Ohioans are providing unpaid care
$3.2 Billion
Medicaid cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s (2025)
4,953
deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2022
17%
in hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia
72%
increase of geriatricians in Ohio needed to meet the demand in 2050
Resources to Drive Change in Ohio
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 Ohio policymakers are addressing these gaps, and how you can help drive change.