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

• 113,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s in South Carolina.
• 11.5% of people aged 45 and older have subjective cognitive decline.
• 219,000 family caregivers bear the burden of the disease in South Carolina.
• 361 million hours of unpaid care provided by Alzheimer’s caregivers.
• $5.5 billion is the value of the unpaid care.
• $818 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 South Carolina: 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 American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples 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 South Carolina, the Department of Health and Environmental Control developed and promoted a brain health awareness campaign — Take Brain Health to Heart — to increase the public’s understanding of brain health and ways to protect cognition. The campaign was updated in early 2020.

In September 2021, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control received a  Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Program Award. The BOLD program is updating and expanding the Take Brain Health to Heart campaign and corresponding website. Read the case study and view the full campaign.

State plan overview

In June 2008, the South Carolina General Assembly created the Purple Ribbon Task Force through passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1333 to study the current and future impact of Alzheimer’s disease within the state, assess resources for those impacted by Alzheimer’s, and develop a strategy to meet the needs of South Carolinians. Housed in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging, the Purple Ribbon Task Force included representatives from state health and aging agencies, law enforcement, research institutions, long-term care agencies as well as health care providers and state legislators. Drawing on the multidisciplinary representation of its members, the Task Force published Conquering the Specter of Alzheimer’s Disease in South Carolina in March 2009.

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.