The Alzheimer’s Association is inviting community members to learn the outcomes of a recent Community Needs Assessment on Alzheimer’s and Dementia in Orangeburg County. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Orangeburg County Council on Aging, located at 2570 St. Matthews Road..
The purpose of this meeting is to share findings from the assessment, as well as to connect community members to help drive local a local response. A series of public forums were held to collect input from medical and long term care professionals and other community partners as well as residents impacted by Alzheimer’s or dementia.
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“By learning from the experiences that real families are having across this county, we are aiming to create awareness and make connections that can lead to real community-driven solutions,” said Taylor Wilson, Director of Government Affairs for the Alzheimer’s Association South Carolina Chapter. “We hope that a diverse group of community members will join us, including nonprofits, personal aides, civic and faith organizations, social workers for seniors, public servants, home and community based service providers, and of course impacted family members.”
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According to a nationwide model in the Alzheimer’s Association 2024 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, Orangeburg County ranks eighth in the nation for Alzheimer’s prevalence among counties with a population of 10,000 or more age 65 and older, with 15% of the population 65 and older estimated to be living with the disease.
The South Carolina Alzheimer’s Disease Registry shows that 2,019 individuals in Orangeburg County were living with Alzheimer’s or related dementia (ADRD) as of 2021, the most recent year that complete data is available. Based on their numbers, African Americans were 28% more likely to have ADRD than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. Nearly 10% of dementia cases in Orangeburg County were people under age 65.
An estimated 6.9 million people age 65 and older in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, including 112,500 in South Carolina. This year the cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is projected to reach $360 billion — a $15 billion increase from a year ago. This does not include unpaid care provided by family caregivers and friends. Last year in South Carolina there were 219,000 dementia family caregivers, providing 361 million hours of unpaid care valued at over $5.5 billion.
In 2023, Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law the Alzheimer’s State Plan Act, which requires the South Carolina Department Aging to maintain a strategic, evidence-informed plan to address Alzheimer’s and related dementias, with annual reporting on progress presented to the legislature each year and a plan updated required every five years. The current Alzheimer’s State Plan for 2023-2028, published in March 2023, has a special focus on supportive services in the community to bring resources to those caregiving for the person with dementia.
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