Rhode Island State Alzheimer’s Plan Overview
In April 2012, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 2858, directing the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council to lead a workgroup on the development of a state plan. The workgroup was co-chaired by the chair of the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, the lieutenant governor or designee and the director of the division of elderly affairs. After collecting public feedback, the workgroup published the Rhode Island’s State Plan on Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Disorders in September 2013. In February 2019, the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council published the 2019 Update, Rhode Island State Plan on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders. Led by the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Rhode Island launched a revision process of the 2019 State Plan. The Council held community forums and an ADRD Stakeholder Summit to help inform the updated state plan for 2024-2029, which was published in February 2024. The updated state plan is in alignment with the Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) Road Map and includes goals, objectives and strategies to improve the state’s response to Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
Rhode Island 2024 Policy Priorities
Establish a Dementia Services Coordinator Position
Following ongoing advocacy, Rhode Island has established and is now updating a state Alzheimer’s plan to guide state actions to address Alzheimer’s and other dementia. However, without a permanent, state-funded position to oversee implementation of the plan, the state may face difficulty adequately supporting the over 22,000 Rhode Islanders with the disease and their caregivers. The Alzheimer’s Association is calling on state officials to support funding for the establishment of a full-time Dementia Coordinator position. This position will work to bring together state agency officials, legislators, and external stakeholders to implement the recommendations outlined in the state plan while ensuring the plan continues to reflect the needs of the state.
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22,000
people living with Alzheimer’s in Rhode Island
36,000
Rhode Islanders are providing unpaid care
$470 Million
Medicaid cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s (2020)
445
deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2021
25%
in hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia
48.5%
increase of geriatricians in Rhode Island needed to meet the demand in 2050
Resources to Drive Change in Rhode Island
The following resources developed by AIM and the Alzheimer’s Association will help you learn more about the issues impacting people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, how Rhode Island policymakers are addressing these gaps, and how you can help drive change.