Tuesday evening, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) joined the National Alzheimer's Association at a local "listening session" held in Wall Township, Monmouth County, N.J. The "listening sessions" are being held around the country so that lawmakers can receive direct input from those who care for persons with Alzheimer’s Disease as the federal government finalizes a congressionally mandated national strategy to address the "escalating Alzheimer's crisis.” 

    "Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)‪ afflicts over 5 million people in the U.S. alone, a number that is expected to triple in coming decades, at a projected financial cost of over $1 trillion a year by 2050, including 150,000 in New Jersey‪‪,” said Smith, who co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease and is the chairman of the House subcommittee which oversees global health issues. 

    In July, Smith headlined an informational briefing in Washington organized by the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) and the California Healthcare Institute. 

    "Education and awareness is key," Smith said. "You are on the front lines and you know what is working. The federal government needs to hear from you and spotlight the resources and programs you have found useful.” 

    In Wall this evening people reported on the challenges of finding quality care that also keeps AD patients mentally active as a means of slowing the symptoms and severity of AD. The group was comprised primarily of health care professionals who have also cared for their own family members with AD. 

    One man spoke of the need to better educate caregivers and family members about the onset of AD at younger ages. Mr. Walter Ludeke of New Brunswick explained that his wife Donna was diagnosed with AD at 54. 

    Smith discussed his work and support for the federally-sponsored Programs for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) which allow Medicare to cover the full medical needs of the elderly on a daily outpatient basis without forcing patients into institutional living. The federal PACE program offers full medical care and coordination. It lets people remain in their homes and gives family caregivers some relief. St. Francis Hospital in Mercer County, with Smith’s help, opened the first Medicare-funded PACE program in New Jersey and it is serving seniors in Central New Jersey with great success.

    Smith (R-N.J.) and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chairs in the House of Representatives of the Bipartisan, Bicameral Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, coauthored The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) (HR 4689), in the House. Their provisions were signed into law as part of the Senate companion bill in January. The new National Alzheimer’s Project will now coordinate government-wide efforts to prevent and treat the disease and create a national strategy for defeating Alzheimer’s. ‪NAPA directs that the National Alzheimer’s Project will be located in the Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, and establishes an Advisory Committee of private and federal experts to work with the Secretary to comprehensively assess and address Alzheimer’s research, institutional services and home and community-based care.

    On the international level, Smith in June held a congressional hearing entitled “Global Strategies to Combat the Devastating Health and Economic Impacts of Alzheimer’s Disease.” At the hearing Dr. Richard Hodes, Director of the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health, described several areas of research that hopefully will lead to the development of preventive and treatment intervention. Click here to read Hodes’ testimony.‪‪

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