HOW AARP IS FIGHTING FOR YOU
AARP Takes On Brain Health
FOR DECADES, AARP has been committed to leading the efforts to improve brain health for older Americans and, by extension, people throughout the world. That commitment is stronger than ever today, and the ways we are taking on the challenge are ever more diverse. As examples, AARP is investing in organizations working on dementia, and we regularly bring together top researchers to look for tomorrow’s best answers for dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and other challenges to a healthy brain. And we are becoming a leading source to both everyday Americans and health professionals for the latest information on developments in cognitive care.
Here are some specifics.
→ AARP established the Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH), an all-star collection of the world’s top researchers and scientists. This panel provides recommendations for proven strategies to reduce risks for cognitive decline as people age. Next up for the GCBH is how to address disparities in dementia treatments among different racial communities in the U.S.
→ AARP is raising awareness of delirium and dementia in hospitals and emergency departments. Working along with the Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative (GEDC), and with support from West Health and The John A. Hartford Foundation, we have helped create training videos to provide key information about brain health.
→ The free flow of information on dementia research is critical to advancing science around the globe. AARP has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, a project aimed at making sure the most up-to-date and important research results on Alzheimer’s and related dementias are available to all people doing work in the field.
→ AARP has invested $60 million in the Dementia Discovery Fund to help research and develop high-impact therapeutics for dementias. So far, the fund has taken a financial stake in 18 of the most promising health care ventures.
→ AARP is also supporting the Longitude Prize on Dementia, a new multimillion-dollar competition launched to find cutting-edge technology that can help people with dementia live independently at home for longer. —Sarah Lenz Lock is the senior vice president for policy and brain health at AARP.
AARP BOARD OF DIRECTORS Board Chair Annette Franqui, First Vice Chair Beth Ellard, Second Vice Chair Lloyd Johnson, Robert Blancato, Margot James Copeland, Joseph F. Coughlin, Jeffrey D. Dunn, Jo Ann Jenkins, Rosanna A. Márquez, Alan Murray, Julio Portalatin, Marie Quintero-Johnson, Libby Sartain, David Windley