Missouri Alzheimer's Disease State Plan Task Force

It has been over 20 years since the last statewide task force on Alzheimer's disease released its final report. With the passage of House Bill 272 in 2009, a new Alzheimer's State Plan Task Force has been established to:
• Assess the current and future impact of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia on residents of the state of Missouri;
• Examine the existing services and resources addressing the needs of persons with dementia, their families, and caregivers; and
• Develop recommendations to respond to the escalating public health situation regarding Alzheimer's.

Members
The 19 members of the Task Force include representation from state government (i.e., the lieutenant govemor's office, the state departments of health and senior services, social services, and mental health, the house of representatives, and the senate), professionals working with persons with Alzheimer's, a family caregiver, and a person living with Alzheimer's.

Areas of Focus
The areas of focus for the Task Force included:
  Type, cost, and availability of services for persons with dementia, including respite, home, community, and residential long term care
  Dementia training requirements for employees providing care for persons with dementia in all care settings
  Quality care measures for services delivered across the continuum of care
  Capacity of public safety law enforcement to respond to person with Alzheimer's
  State support for Alzheimer's research through institutes of higher learning in Missouri
  Services and resources for persons with early stage Alzheimer's disease, early onset Alzheimer's disease, individuals with Alzheimer's disease as a result of Down syndrome, and family caregivers

Outcomes
  Public input was gathered through meetings in four diverse geographic regions
  Annual supplemental reports on the findings will be provided to the governor and general assembly
The Alzheimer's State Plan Task Force has finished their first task and issued a report on the current state and future needs of individuals with Alzheimer's and their families.  Click on the link below to download the report.