Minnesota’S Alzheimer’S Disease Working Group (Adwg)
As a General step regarding Alzheimer's by MikeD
I have recently been appointed to Minnesota’s Alzheimer’s Disease Working Group (ADWG). This is an hybrid group authorized by the past legislative session in Minnesota given the following directive:
This event was reported by the MN State Legislature dated 5/28/09,
I was pleased with the appointment as the AD Rep. It will give me the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of changes that need to happen with the care and treatment of AD. This disease is a calamity waiting to happen as its numbers are escalating exponentially.
I have written arduously on issues pertaining to this need during which times I have seen things happening on the Federal level. This legislation with its direction to examine, find and make recommendations enhances the effort on the local state level.
In June of this year my wife Diane and I had the opportunity to appear on a panel in Washington DC convened jointly by the National Alzheimer’s Association (Alz.Org) and the Federal Administration on Aging (AoA) which was following the same directive. We were there along with two other members of the Early Stage Advisory Group of the National Alz.Org, who with there spouses and/or caregivers discussed the needs of those affected by the Early Stage of AD.
We were well received by the rest of the group attending this all of whom were professionals or government officials who ate charged with making policies and programs for AD in the country. Lisa Gwyther, a professional from NC who conducted our panel as moderated stated she learned more from us in one sitting than she did in 30 years of professional practice. That was gratifying.
I presented written material to this group which consisted of the following memorandum which follows entitled: Programs Worth Advocating For ESAD. This is the summary of a more detailed essay that I have posted in my archive entitled: A GREATER NEED OF CARE IN EARLY STAGE ALZHEIMER’S
PROGRAMS WORTH ADVOCATING FOR ESAD
Specifically what we can work on are the following:
a. First Stop Programs: A Place With People such as Early Stagers that patients just diagnosed can come to and learn about AD and how they and families can deal with it. This could be supplemented to Alz.Assoc with a resource list of services. The existence of this should be circulated throughout the Health Care Community.
b. Support Groups: A Place With People where Early Stagers agree to attend with regularity and be open to the public designed for Early Stage offering support, camaraderie and regularity.
c. Volunteer Coordination: We need to put together a central source to find volunteer opportunities for Early Stage AD where they can be directed to do volunteer work in the range of their respective ability.
d. Structured Wage Earning Workgroups: Something comparable to Sheltered Workshops for Early Onset AD’s to provide both work and wage when they have lost their jobs, still need gainful employment. Not everyone has disability insurance and not all disability insurance is enough. Social security can take two years to get if at all.
e. Creative Programs: To Stimulate the Minds and Prolong Early Stagers in Early Stage. These need to be structured in such a way that they are social, creative, intellectually stimulating and such to capture a person still functional and in need of more than the distraction afforded by most day care programs.
These are some of my ideas. We need the organizations to promote and help organize this.
In the public/Gov’t sector we are talking all of this and more involving funding of programs and provision of incentives for economizing care as institutionalizing it as is done now.
to examine the array of needs of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, available services, and the capacity of the state and providers to meet these needs. Requires the working group to make recommendations on the following:
• Trends in the state’s Alzheimer’s population and the service needs
• Existing resources, services, and capacity
• Needed policies or responses
This event was reported by the MN State Legislature dated 5/28/09,
NEWS RELEASE! GOTTWALT'S ALZHEIMER'S GROUP GETS PAWLENTY'S APPROVAL
Rep Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, authored the legislation (H.F. 2036) to help Minnesota get ready for an expected sharp increase in Alzheimer’s disease cases over the next two decades. The working group is charged with delivering specific recommendations to the State Legislature in a year. It will disband after its mission is complete.
“As the baby boomers age, and we live longer, the incidences of Alzheimer’s will increase dramatically, and there is no known cure for this terminal illness,” said Gottwalt, who serves on both of the health care and human services committees in the House, the Legislative Commission on Health Care Access, and the Minnesota Rural Health Advisory Board. “At age 65, one in eight people are stricken with Alzheimer’s. At age 85, one in two people have this terrible disease.”
A recent study issued by the national Alzheimer’s Association indicates the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to reach 7.7 million in 2030, more than a 50-percent increase from the 5.1 million aged 65 and older who are currently affected.
“Considering the needs of those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, we face an incredible challenge,” Gottwalt said. “Experts predict the disease will soon cost Minnesota billions of dollars each year. We need comprehensive planning to get ready, and this working group is an important start.” Gottwalt said he hopes the legislature will act on the group's recommendations.
Because of the cooperation between the Minnesota Alzheimer’s Association and the Board on Aging, the work group carries no cost for the state – but Gottwalt said the group’s recommendations could save Minnesota billions of dollars down the road.
I am pleased to see this commission given by the Legislature to make the findings it directed and to report back with them no later than January 15, 2011. The Group consists of 20 members drawn from the MN Dep’t of Aging, Public and Private Experts in the treatment and care of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and two members, one an AD Caregiver and the other a person afflicted with AD.
I was pleased with the appointment as the AD Rep. It will give me the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of changes that need to happen with the care and treatment of AD. This disease is a calamity waiting to happen as its numbers are escalating exponentially.
I have written arduously on issues pertaining to this need during which times I have seen things happening on the Federal level. This legislation with its direction to examine, find and make recommendations enhances the effort on the local state level.
In June of this year my wife Diane and I had the opportunity to appear on a panel in Washington DC convened jointly by the National Alzheimer’s Association (Alz.Org) and the Federal Administration on Aging (AoA) which was following the same directive. We were there along with two other members of the Early Stage Advisory Group of the National Alz.Org, who with there spouses and/or caregivers discussed the needs of those affected by the Early Stage of AD.
We were well received by the rest of the group attending this all of whom were professionals or government officials who ate charged with making policies and programs for AD in the country. Lisa Gwyther, a professional from NC who conducted our panel as moderated stated she learned more from us in one sitting than she did in 30 years of professional practice. That was gratifying.
I presented written material to this group which consisted of the following memorandum which follows entitled: Programs Worth Advocating For ESAD. This is the summary of a more detailed essay that I have posted in my archive entitled: A GREATER NEED OF CARE IN EARLY STAGE ALZHEIMER’S
PROGRAMS WORTH ADVOCATING FOR ESAD
Specifically what we can work on are the following:
a. First Stop Programs: A Place With People such as Early Stagers that patients just diagnosed can come to and learn about AD and how they and families can deal with it. This could be supplemented to Alz.Assoc with a resource list of services. The existence of this should be circulated throughout the Health Care Community.
b. Support Groups: A Place With People where Early Stagers agree to attend with regularity and be open to the public designed for Early Stage offering support, camaraderie and regularity.
c. Volunteer Coordination: We need to put together a central source to find volunteer opportunities for Early Stage AD where they can be directed to do volunteer work in the range of their respective ability.
d. Structured Wage Earning Workgroups: Something comparable to Sheltered Workshops for Early Onset AD’s to provide both work and wage when they have lost their jobs, still need gainful employment. Not everyone has disability insurance and not all disability insurance is enough. Social security can take two years to get if at all.
e. Creative Programs: To Stimulate the Minds and Prolong Early Stagers in Early Stage. These need to be structured in such a way that they are social, creative, intellectually stimulating and such to capture a person still functional and in need of more than the distraction afforded by most day care programs.
These are some of my ideas. We need the organizations to promote and help organize this.
In the public/Gov’t sector we are talking all of this and more involving funding of programs and provision of incentives for economizing care as institutionalizing it as is done now.
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