Oklahoma State Alzheimer’s Plan Overview
In May 2008, the Task Force on the Effect of Alzheimer’s Disease was established pursuant to Senate Bill 2186. Tasked with examining the impact of Alzheimer’s disease and forming a plan of action within the state, the Task Force included representatives from the private sector, community organizations, and state agencies as well as caregivers, state legislators, and individuals living with Alzheimer's. In September 2009, the Final Report of the Task Force on the Effect of Alzheimer’s Disease in Oklahoma was published. In 2015, Governor Mary Fallin issued Executive Order 2015-32 to authorize an update to the state plan. The Oklahoma Alzheimer’s State Plan 2016 was published in February 2016. In 2023, the Oklahoma State Health Department, in partnership with a coalition of stakeholders, published an update to the state Alzheimer’s plan for 2023-2027. The updated state plan details four goal areas for advancing brain health across the state.
Oklahoma 2024 Policy Priorities
Empower Professional Guardians with Dementia Training
Due to the impact of dementia on a person’s ability to make decisions and in the absence of other advanced directives, people living with Alzheimer’s may need the assistance of a guardian. Once appointed, a guardian may make decisions for the individual that relate to the person’s health, well-being and economic interest. With such responsibility, it is imperative that appointed guardians receive training on interacting with individuals living with dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association is urging state lawmakers to support legislation outlining dementia-specific training requirements for guardians responsible for an individual living with Alzheimer’s or memory loss. This requirement will ensure guardians responsible for a person living with dementia provide a certificate of completion of dementia-specific training.
Support Victims of Elder Abuse
Too often, individuals living with dementia become the victims of elder abuse. They may also present as uncooperative, disruptive, and combative when they have difficulty communicating and understanding what is happening. Oklahoma’s multidisciplinary teams that investigate instances of elder abuse may not know how to work with individuals living with dementia in these situations — leading to more confusion. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state lawmakers to require elder abuse investigators to complete dementia-specific training on understanding effective communication strategies when interacting with elder abuse victims who are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
Support Dementia Training for Caregivers
Oklahoma is home to 70,500 individuals living with Alzheimer’s and 108,000 caregivers. These caregivers are providing unpaid care, often enabling their loved ones living with dementia to live in the community instead of moving into more costly residential long-term care. Caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia is often very intimate and very intrusive, and training on how to provide the best care can benefit both caregivers and their loved ones living with the disease. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to make dementia-specific training available for caregivers through their ADvantage 1915(c) waiver.
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. Oklahoma 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, in partnership with the Community Living Aging and Protective Services, is urging state lawmakers to establish a written rule ensuring future State Aging Plans consider and outline the need for dementia-specific services, programs and training. The State Aging Plan should additionally consider dementia-related data provided through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
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70,500
people living with Alzheimer’s in Oklahoma
108,000
Oklahomans are providing unpaid care
$516 Million
Medicaid cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s (2020)
147.6%
increase in Alzheimer’s deaths 2000-2021
18%
in hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia
557.7%
increase of geriatricians in Oklahoma needed to meet the demand in 2050
Resources to Drive Change in Oklahoma
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 Oklahoma policymakers are addressing these gaps, and how you can help drive change.