National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease: 2020 Update

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Bobbie Guidry

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued the 2020 update to the National Plan to address Alzheimer’s Disease. There have been updates yearly since this report was originally published in 2012. A complete list of the National Plan and updates, as well as an Action Side-by-Side, is available, as is more information about the National Alzheimer's Project Act .

The activities outlined in this National Plan Update vary in scope and impact, and include:

• Immediate actions that the Federal Government has taken and that it should take.
• Actions toward the goals that can be initiated by the Federal Government or its public and private partners in the near term.
• Longer-range activities that would require numerous actions by federal and non-federal partners to achieve.
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This is a National Plan, and active engagement of public and private sector stakeholders is needed to achieve the goals. In the case of many of the activities, the path forward will be contingent on resources, scientific progress, and focused collaborations across many partners. Over time, HHS will work with the Advisory Council and stakeholders to incorporate additional transformative actions.

This is the eighth Update to the National Plan. To see how Actions have progressed, changed, and expanded since 2012, see the side-by-side index.

The COVID pandemic accelerated creativity in delivery of programs and services for persons living with dementia and their caregivers. A key learning of the experience of the national shut down during 2020 is that there are some services for persons living with dementia and their caregivers that can be provided virtually, without cost to the quality of services. The expectation is that when all in-person programs are able to resume, the new normal is likely to include hybrid programs that include both in-person and virtual opportunities.