Tennessee State Alzheimer’s Plan Overview
In July 2007, the Tennessee General Assembly established the Tennessee Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force to assess the current and future impact of Alzheimer’s disease in Tennessee, examine services and resources, and draft a state strategy to respond to Alzheimer’s within the state. The Task Force included representatives from long-term care organizations, adult day providers, physician groups, community organizations, state agencies, caregivers, individuals living with the disease and state legislators. In February 2009, the Task Force published the Tennessee Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force Final Report.
In May of 2019, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 28 (Public Chapter No. 364) establishing the Tennessee Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Council. In January 2020, the Advisory Council published the updated Alzheimer’s and Related Dementia State Plan.
Tennessee 2024 Policy Priorities
Recognize Alzheimer’s as a Public Health Issue
The Tennessee Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Advisory Council was renewed following the passage of Senate Bill 1959 in 2020. The Council, currently housed under the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability (TCAD), is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the state Alzheimer’s plan. To emphasize that Alzheimer’s is a public health issue, the Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state lawmakers to support legislation that will relocate the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Advisory Council to the Department of Health, ensuring that Tennesseans understand that Alzheimer’s and other dementia is not a normal part of aging.
Establish a State Dementia Director within the Department of Health
Numerous agencies in Tennessee administer a variety of programs that are critical to people living with dementia and their families. These agencies work separately from each other, hindering the state’s ability to effectively evaluate and coordinate dementia-related services. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state policymakers to establish a full-time State Dementia Director within the Department of Health. This position will coordinate Tennessee’s response to dementia by working closely with the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Advisory Council, ensuring Tennesseans living with dementia and their caregivers are properly supported.
Establish Dementia Specialists Across Tennessee
Individuals diagnosed or caring for someone living with dementia have to navigate a complex network of services and benefits to meet their care needs. With the prevalence of Alzheimer's projected to increase 16.7% in Tennessee by 2025, Tennessee needs a stronger infrastructure for providing accessible support to its population with dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state lawmakers to support an appropriation of $3.2 million to establish Dementia Specialists within the Department of Health. Specialists will work across all 95 counties in Tennessee to serve as an initial point of contact for people living with dementia and caregivers, assist with initial memory assessments, and provide support during engagements with providers when receiving a diagnosis and treatment
Support Dementia Caregivers Through Mobile Respite Centers
Caregivers in Tennessee 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. The state’s Alzheimer’s and dementia respite care pilot program currently provides home and community-based services to approximately 225 Tennessee residents and their caregivers and is projected to serve up to 300 additional Tennesseans. To improve respite access in underserved and rural areas of the state and support the statewide respite pilot program, the Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state legislators to support a $1.2 million annual appropriation for the Department of Health to establish community-based mobile adult respite centers.
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129,200
people living with Alzheimer’s in Tennessee
367,000
Tennesseans are providing unpaid care
$1.1 Billion
Medicaid cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s (2020)
181.2%
increase in Alzheimer’s deaths 2000-2021
19%
in hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia
827.0%
increase of geriatricians in Tennessee needed to meet the demand in 2050
Resources to Drive Change in Tennessee
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 Tennessee policymakers are addressing these gaps, and how you can help drive change.