Continue and Expand California's Healthy Brain Initiative
In 2020, six counties were each awarded $750,000 to implement portions of the Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) Road Map. Over the last year and a half Shasta, Placer, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties’ public health offices have worked on a diverse variety of strategies to help build awareness around dementia and provide strategies and solutions that effectively engage these communities. However, this funding is slated to end in 2022. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on legislators to support forthcoming legislation in California that will continue and expand this program to more counties.
Empower Law Enforcement with Dementia Training
Individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementia have unique needs that often make care delivery, communication and interaction more challenging and demanding. One of the few areas where California has no current dementia training standard is in law enforcement. Without proper training on how to recognize the signs of dementia and how to effectively communicate with people with dementia, situations may escalate quickly with potentially dangerous consequences. We have seen progress in this area be made in San Mateo and Los Angeles, where dementia training has been adopted and implemented. By utilizing these examples, the Alzheimer’s Association will urge legislators to expand this dementia-specific training to all parts of our state in 2022.
Improve Access to Dementia Care Navigation
Many individuals diagnosed, or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s have to navigate a complex network of public and private benefits to meet their care needs. This can be particularly challenging in underserved communities that see higher rates of Alzheimer’s. Community Health Workers (CHWs), Promotores, or Health Navigators, recruited from their own communities, have been aiding Californians with low incomes for years to provide all kinds of health-related assistance. The Alzheimer’s Association will work with state policymakers to fund grants to incentivize organizations that employ CHWs, Promotores, and Health Navigators to provide dementia care navigation to the communities they serve.
California State Plan Overview
In 2008, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 491 calling for the development of a state plan. Under the direction of the California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Committee, established within the California Health and Human Services Agency, a task force was created including representatives from state agencies, community organizations, under-represented communities, and academia as well as health care providers, caregivers, and individuals living with the disease. After incorporating public feedback to address California's culturally diverse population, the Task Force published California's State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease: An Action Plan for 2011-2021 in early 2011.
California State Advocacy Day
March 03, 2022
This year our California State Advocacy Days are everywhere! Please join us on March 3rd and 4th, 2022, as we advocate with our state legislators. For 2022, we will continue our virtual advocacy format, giving all advocates, everywhere in our Golden State, an opportunity to have their voices heard! Never advocated before? No problem! We’ll train you and there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions before meeting with state officials.
