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

  • 57,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s in Mississippi.
  • 11.8% of people aged 45 and older have subjective cognitive decline.
  • 115,000 family caregivers bear the burden of the disease in Mississippi.
  • 225 million hours of unpaid care provided by Alzheimer’s caregivers.
  • $5.2 billion is the value of the unpaid care.
  • $606 million 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 Mississippi: Alzheimer’s Statistics (PDF), Cognitive Decline (PDF), Dementia Caregiving (PDF), Risk Factors (PDF), County-Level Alzheimer's Prevalence (PDF)

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

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
In Mississippi, the State Department of Health (MSDH) incorporated cognitive health into the MSDH Coordinated Chronic Disease Plan and the Health Promotion State Plan.In September 2020, the Mississippi State Department of 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

Mississippi’s Strategic Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias is a project led by the Department of Mental Health, Division of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, in collaboration with other stakeholders, public and private. The Strategic Plan was published in 2015 as an update to the original plan published in 2010. In January 2020, the next iteration of the state plan was published, The State of Mississippi, Strategic Plan for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, 2020-2025.

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.  

Mississippi Implementation
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No known public health action at this time.

 
Mississippi Resources
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Risk Factors + Risk Reduction

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

Caregivers + BRFSS

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Caregiving in Mississippi

BRFSS + Cognitive Decline

Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2019)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2019)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2017) (2017)
Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2015)
Alzheimer's Association Infographic: Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2015)
Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2012)

BRFSS + Caregivers

Alzheimer's Association Fact Sheet: Dementia Caregiving in Mississippi (2015)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Caregiving in Mississippi (2015)

Care and Advance Planning

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Mississippi
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infographic: Subjective Cognitive Decline in Mississippi (2017)