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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | November 12, 2015 11:13 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Steve Samuelson and Rep. Katharine M. Watson, Rep. William C. Kortz, II, Rep. Tim Hennessey |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution designating November 2015 as "Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania. |
| We plan to introduce a resolution designating November 2015 as "Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania. Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible degenerative brain disorder affecting more than five million Americans. As many as 400,000 Pennsylvanians are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders, a figure that’s expected to increase by at least 50,000 over the next 10 years. Alzheimer’s disease can rob a person of their memories and ability to live on their own, and places a huge emotional and financial burden on their family and close friends who often step up to the plate to help care for them. The focus of the year’s National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month is on how this disease impacts the informal caregiver; the unsung hero whose daily assistance allows those with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders to remain at home for as long as possible. Over seven percent of Pennsylvania’s nursing home beds are dedicated to patients with Alzheimer’s disease, but most of their care comes from family and other loved ones. In 2014, 671,000 Pennsylvania spouses, siblings, children and friends provided 765 million hours of unpaid care, a value of $9.3 billion in care costs. Nationally, more than 15 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s disease. And while the average caregiver is a woman with a fulltime job and a family of her own to raise, an estimated 250,000 children between the ages of 8 and 18 provide help to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders. Please join us in sponsoring this House resolution so that we may bring attention to Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders affecting hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, and shine the spotlight on their informal caregivers. |
Introduced as HR595