Published in the Times Online

June 13, 2014

Gov. Tom Corbett on Thursday approved the Pennsylvania State Plan for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, which was designed to provide officials with a strategy to address the rapidly growing disease and disorders in the state.

The plan was developed over the past year by the Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Disease State Planning Committee, and members presented the results to the governor in February.

The Alzheimer’s Associ-ation estimates that about 280,000 Pennsylvanians age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and including those with related disorders, the number is closer to 400,000, according to the state plan.

Pennsylvania has the fourth-highest population percentage of older adults in the nation, and age is the most important risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s.

“The prevalence of this disease is of great concern, and a diagnosis is both heartbreaking and life-changing for many families and older Pennsylvanians,” Corbett said in a news release.

The plan includes seven recommendations for how to effectively respond to the disease, and it also emphasizes the importance of collaboration among caregivers, state leaders, organizations, academics, health care providers and individuals living with ADRD and their families.

“These recommendations will help guide Pennsylvania’s leaders to support individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders and those caring for them,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Brian Duke, who also served as the committee chairman.

("Corbett approves action plan for addressing Alzheimer’s, related disorders," Times Online, 6/13/14)