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Donate NowAlzheimer’s Association Marks 20 Years of Public Health Progress on Dementia in New Gerontologist Supplement
— Special issue highlights unprecedented growth in embedding dementia risk reduction, detection and caregiving as core public health functions —
CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2026 — As the nation marks 20 years of public health leadership on dementia through the Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI), the Alzheimer’s Association announces the publication of a new supplement issue of The Gerontologist that details unprecedented progress to establish dementia as a public health priority. Accelerated in recent years through implementation of the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure (BOLD) Act, the supplement outlines how brain health, dementia risk reduction, early detection and caregiving have become integral to public health practice nationwide.The supplement, titled “Healthy Brain Initiative and Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure: Dementia as a Public Health Imperative,” features 10 peer-reviewed manuscripts authored by the HBI Collaborative and partners. The articles document the reach and implementation of a national public health approach to dementia, demonstrating how coordination accelerates collective impact and progress nationwide.
“This supplement captures two decades of steady public health progress and the rapid acceleration of that progress made possible through BOLD,” said Joanne Pike, DrPH, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. “The Alzheimer’s Association is proud to have been engaged in this work since the very beginning. Through strong partnerships and coordinated public health action, dementia risk reduction, detection and caregiving are increasingly treated as core public health — and continued investment is essential.”
The supplement traces the evolution of dementia as a national public health and policy priority, highlighting milestones such as the HBI Road Map Series, expansion of cognitive decline and caregiving surveillance data, and federal grants awarded to state, local and territorial health departments through the BOLD Act.
Three manuscripts from the BOLD Public Health Centers of Excellence illustrate a life course approach to dementia, examining risk reduction, early detection and caregiving. Additional manuscripts focus on populations disproportionately impacted by dementia, including African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, underscoring the importance of equity-centered public health strategies.
“The public health implications of dementia and dementia caregiving are immense,” said Joe Gaugler, Ph.D., director of the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving and editor-in-chief of The Gerontologist. “This supplemental issue of The Gerontologist demonstrates how the Healthy Brain Initiative and the BOLD Act have built and expanded public health infrastructure to meet the many challenges of dementia and dementia care in our families, communities, states and nation.”
For more than two decades, the Alzheimer’s Association has led efforts to embed brain health into public health practice. That work gained significant momentum with the bipartisan passage of the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act in 2018 — championed by the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) — and reaffirmed through its unanimous reauthorization by Congress.
“In a relatively short time, this work has delivered remarkable progress,” Pike added. “The collective efforts documented in this supplement make clear that this momentum must continue.”
The full supplement is now available online through The Gerontologist.
About the Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer’s Association is a worldwide voluntary health organization dedicated to Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Our mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer's and all other dementia®. Visit alz.org or call 800.272.3900.
About the Healthy Brain Initiative
The Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) is a national effort to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, promote early detection, and improve support for people living with dementia and their caregivers through a public health approach. Led by the Alzheimer’s Association in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a national collaborative of organizations, HBI provides guidance, tools, data, and technical assistance to public health agencies nationwide.
About the Healthy Brain Initiative Collaborative
The Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) Collaborative is a national partnership advancing a public health approach to Alzheimer’s and dementia through collective, data-driven action. Comprised of organizations funded through cooperative agreements with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the National Healthy Brain Initiative (NHBI) and the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act (BOLD Act). Co-chaired by the CDC's Alzheimer's Disease Program and the Alzheimer's Association, the HBI Collaborative works to integrate brain health into public health practice by translating science on risk reduction, early detection, and caregiving into public health tools, resources and messaging, with a specific focus on communities facing higher burdens of dementia, including Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through the HBI Road Map Series, partnerships, and workforce capacity-building, the HBI Collaborative strengthens state, local, territorial and tribal public health efforts to ensure everyone can live with the healthiest brain possible.