Each month, we’re featuring an advocate who engages with policymakers to ensure priorities that improve the lives of people impacted by Alzheimer’s and all other dementia remain top-of-mind in Congress.

For Janece Richard of Anchorage, Alaska, the journey to become an Alzheimer’s advocate did not start with a personal connection to the disease. As a mental health professional for over a decade, Janece has worked with rural and Alaska Native populations and seen the impact of dementia on their communities firsthand. When she first encountered the Alzheimer’s Association while volunteering with her children for a leadership organization, Janece decided to get more involved in the cause by becoming an advocate.

“I said, ’Of course. I’m picking up my torch. And let’s run with this because it’s definitely having an impact,’” said Janece. 

Throughout her career, Janece has seen the challenges of caring for those living with dementia in rural areas as well as the strengths of their close-knit communities. “In rural Alaska, and probably anywhere in rural America, [a major challenge] is trust. A lot of the time, they have a mistrust with the medical system, so you really have to start with relationship-building first,” said Janece. “That doesn’t mean that they can’t get these services, and it doesn’t mean that they don’t want them. It means that they need to trust the person who is saying that they need them first, before somebody just comes in.” 

When it comes to memory care facilities, those in rural communities often face a difficult choice. “In Alaska, people like where they live, they like their communities,” said Janece. “They don’t want to move from a smaller community to Anchorage…It’s like asking someone from Anchorage to move to LA. It’s very overwhelming for them.” 

Because of her professional experience working with Alaska Native elders, Janece has learned to recognize early signs of dementia and help with connecting them with local services. “Working with the elders, it’s nice to hear them tell their stories,” said Janece. “They have very interesting stories that stem back to when they were children. And then you notice there is a pattern when they start repeating those stories.”

When it comes to her advocacy, Janece has shared her experience to emphasize the importance of providing resources in rural communities. “It’s very expensive to live in these rural communities,” said Janece. “Gas is expensive, electricity is expensive, food is expensive. So you need to work. But then you also need to stop working for half your day, come over and support your family member.”

Janece recognizes the critical importance of resources for dementia caregivers. Respite care funding ensures they receive much-needed relief from caregiving duties to run errands or take care of their own health needs, and a tax credit such as the one that would be created through the bipartisan Credit for Caring Act would help provide financial relief to those caring for a loved one.

“We need more funds, and we need ways to give people a chance to survive while they’re helping others,” said Janece. “It makes a huge difference.”

Last year, Janece took her advocacy to the next level by attending the AIM Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C. After meeting with her members of Congress, Janece recognized how a state as big as Alaska still seemed so small.  

“Alaska is small. A lot of people know a lot of people,” said Janece. “Senator Lisa Murkowski just walked into the meeting room, and she was naming people by name.” 

For Janece, increasing the presence of underrepresented populations in clinical studies is a priority. “We want to bring more awareness, not for just us, but for those who step before us that this disease is out there and it is prevalent,” said Janece. “We need to get more people of color to go in and participate [in clinical trials]. We need to let them know, ‘If you do this, you’re helping the next person.’ And sometimes that’s enough for people to say, ‘Okay, I want to be a part of this change.’”

As a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Janece has also been working to connect her sorority with the Alzheimer’s Association to advance the fight against Alzheimer’s and other dementia in her local community. And this year, Janece is hoping to start a Longest Day fundraiser bringing together people who ride motorcycles in Alaska. 

“I met this person [with a motorcycle club]…and he was telling me his grandmother died of Alzheimer’s, so it’s important to him,” said Janece. “The more people you talk to about it, the more you start to hear how it’s impacted them.”

Not only does Janece keep herself busy by getting involved in her community, but she encourages others to join her. Throughout the years, Janece has made sure her children get involved in serving their local community. From a young age, her kids would attend events for different organizations, help organize donated materials, and as they got older they started carrying heavy bags of items to people’s cars for them, even on cold winter days with subzero temperatures. 

“We do as much as we can outdoors, and as much as we can indoors. You’ve got to enjoy Alaska out there,” said Janece. “They know how to do it now, so they’re not strangers to it.”

Janece has also urged her coworkers to become involved in Alzheimer’s advocacy. Several of them recently attended Alaska’s State Advocacy Day in Juneau, and one of them has also been added to the local Walk to End Alzheimer’s committee with Janece. 

By bringing others along on her advocacy journey, Janece is growing momentum in the fight against Alzheimer’s and other dementia. 

“I advocate for lots of reasons,” said Janece. “I have always been somebody who recognizes we’ve got to stand up for those that can’t stand up for themselves.”

Join together with advocates like Janece and become an advocate today!