Wisconsin State Alzheimer’s Plan Overview
In October 2013, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) convened the Dementia Care Stakeholder Summit. Participants discussed a redesign of the state’s dementia care system in order to provide appropriate, safe and cost-effective care throughout the entire course of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. With input from the Summit, DHS released a draft State Plan for public comment and review. DHS incorporated the stakeholder input into its final published report, Dementia Care Redesign: A Plan for a Dementia-Capable Wisconsin, released in February 2014.
In 2018, DHS conducted a public survey to get input from individuals and professionals impacted by memory loss or dementia. DHS convened the 2018 Dementia Summit with key stakeholders including family caregivers, advocacy organizations, health and human services agencies, legislators, clinicians, researchers, home care providers and long-term care providers to review the public survey and identify priority areas. Four priority areas were identified: 1) Care provided in communities where people live; 2) Improving how health care providers diagnose and care for people with dementia; 3) Responding to crises involving people with dementia; 4) Care provided in assisted living, nursing homes, and other residential communities. These priorities formed the foundation of the Wisconsin State Dementia Plan: 2019–2023.
A small State Plan Steering Committee engages partners to implement the goals and strategies in the state plan.
Wisconsin 2024 Policy Priorities
Re-Establish the Dementia Crisis Innovation Grants Program
People living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia have unique needs that often make care delivery and communication more challenging. Due to these circumstances, a statewide crisis response system to support individuals living with dementia is needed in Wisconsin. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state lawmakers to support an annual appropriation of $250,000 to re-establish the Dementia Crisis Innovation Grants program, which will provide crisis responders with tools, training and resources to better understand the unique needs of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
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110,900
people living with Alzheimer’s in Wisconsin
205,000
Wisconsinites are providing unpaid care
$777 Million
Medicaid cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s (2020)
2,371
deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2021
16%
in hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia
228.9%
increase of geriatricians in Wisconsin needed to meet the demand in 2050
Resources to Drive Change in Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin policymakers are addressing these gaps, and how you can help drive change.