Alzheimer’s disease is a growing public health crisis in Connecticut. The impact of Alzheimer’s is projected to rise, and the most recent data show:

  • 80,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s in Connecticut.
  • ​7.3% of people aged 45 and older have subjective cognitive decline.
  • 128,000 family caregivers bear the burden of the disease in Connecticut.
  • 201 million hours of unpaid care provided by Alzheimer’s caregivers.
  • $4.2 billion is the value of the unpaid care.
  • $1 billion is the cost of Alzheimer’s to the state Medicaid program.

These numbers show that a public health approach is necessary to lessen the burden and enhance the quality of life for those living with cognitive impairment and their families.

Learn more about Connecticut: Alzheimer’s Statistics (PDF), Cognitive Decline (PDF), Dementia Caregiving (PDF), Risk Factors (PDF), County-Level Alzheimer's Prevalence (PDF)  

Explore public health action against Alzheimer’s

Learn more about areas essential to addressing Alzheimer's from a public health perspective.

See Public Health Topics

Tribes in your state

Use the HBI Road Map for Indian Country to start conversations with tribal leaders on public health actions that can be taken to support brain health and caregivers. Find tribal leaders and federally recognized tribes in your state: Tribal Leaders Directory.

Public health spotlight

In September 2021, the Connecticut Department of Public Health received a Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Program Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

State plan overview

In 2013, Connecticut’s legislature passed Special Act 13-11, creating the state’s Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. The Task Force met six times between September and December of 2013 and published a list of recommendations in December 2013 in the Report of the Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. The state plan focuses on short-term goals meant to be completed over the course of three to five years. In January 2020, the Task Force published an update to the state plan, focusing on progress made, updating recommendations, and expanding the role for the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

Resources for action

State and local public health agencies around the country are taking action against Alzheimer’s by implementing the Healthy Brain Initiative: State and Local Road Map for Public Health, 2023–2027​. Public health practitioners can learn by example and find resources to help guide their response below.
  

Connecticut Implementation
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No known public health action at this time.

 
Connecticut Resources
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Risk Factors + Risk Reduction

Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Connecticut

BRFSS + Cognitive Decline

Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Connecticut (2019)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Connecticut (2019)
Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Cognitive Decline in Connecticut (2016)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Cognitive Decline in Connecticut (2016)
Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Cognitive Decline in Connecticut (2012)

BRFSS + Caregivers

Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Dementia Caregiving in Connecticut (2016)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Caregiving in Connecticut (2016)
Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Dementia Caregiving in Connecticut (2013)

Care and Advance Planning

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Connecticut