The bipartisan BOLD Reauthorization Act will continue funding programs that improve dementia prevention, early diagnosis, and support caregivers.
This month, the U.S. Senate passed the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Reauthorization Act of 2024.
Originally signed into law in 2018, the bipartisan BOLD Act provided $10 million annually to develop infrastructure to improve dementia prevention, diagnosis, and caregiving at state and local levels. Spearheaded by senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the reauthorization more than triples that funding, from $10 million to $34 million annually for the next five years.
“By reauthorizing the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, we are reaffirming our commitments to providing the tools needed to fight this devastating disease,” Senator Collins said in a statement, “and to not let Alzheimer’s be one of the defining diseases of our children’s generation as it has ours.”
Thus far, funding provided through the BOLD Act has built public health infrastructure across 45 local, state, and tribal public health departments. It has helped those health departments implement interventions to reduce the risk of dementia, improve early detection and diagnosis, and support caregivers.
“Alzheimer’s isn’t a red issue or blue issue — it’s purple — and over the last decade Congress has shown true bipartisan leadership, taking strong action to address this growing crisis,” Robert Egge, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement president and Alzheimer’s Association chief public policy officer, said in a statement. “Today’s reauthorization will build on this progress and expand the law’s impact further into communities.”
What does the legislation mean for patients and caregivers?
The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act treats Alzheimer’s as a public health issue, directing the CDC to build out public health infrastructure to address the growing prevalence of the disease.
The bill established three Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) Public Health Centers of Excellence which focused on risk reduction and prevention, early detection, and caregiving, respectively.
The centers promote awareness, research and compile the best practices, and collaborate with researchers and other public health networks throughout the country to improve prevention, diagnosis, and care of dementia.
The act also funded programs at state, county, and tribal levels to implement programs centered around dementia while improving data collection practices around dementia.
“This is a win for millions of Americans who face the daily realities of Alzheimer’s and dementia,” said George Vradenburg, chair and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, “and it is a major step forward in the fight to end the disease.”
What are the 5 different tests you took and which of those 5 tests would you recommend to test for Alzheimer’s?
I was diagnosed three months ago with
Dementia. My Mother had Dementia and I have read that it is inherited. She passed away two years ago.
Hi Cherie, thank you for being part of our community. You might find our interactive feature ‘Generations of Impact’ useful which explores the lives of two women affected by familial Alzheimer’s – one living with the diagnosis, and the other living with a high-risk gene. Feel free to check it out here: https://www.beingpatient.com/interactive-feature-generations-of-impact-alzheimers/?utm_source=organic&utm_medium=social – take care.