Alzheimer's Association pairs up with New Mexico in US pilot program to
raise awareness
[March 13, 2025]
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has paired up with the Alzheimer's
Association in a pilot U.S. initiative aimed at raising awareness about
a disease that affects several million people across the nation,
including family members and friends who often provide countless hours
of unpaid care.
The joint campaign — a year in the making — features billboards, digital
ads and social media posts. It was unveiled Wednesday, days after
authorities confirmed that actor Gene Hackman died at his Santa Fe home
of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Hackman, like the majority of people with Alzheimer’s and related
dementias, lived at home. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, was his caregiver but
died from hantavirus, a rare, rodent-borne disease. Experts believe
Hackman, in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's, was unable to seek help.
The goal of the new partnership between the state and the Alzheimer's
Association is to spark conversations within families and to educate the
public on warning signs and treatments. It also aims to publicize
support services for family members and other caregivers.
“That’s kind of the whole point of the campaign — to start talking, to
start thinking, to take some action,” said Joey Long, a spokesperson
with the state Aging and Long-Term Services Department. “So it's like,
maybe they’ve been confused. Well, let’s talk about what that means.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 7
million people are living with the disease in the U.S., where
Alzheimer’s is the seventh-leading cause of death. In New Mexico,
estimates put the number of people with the disease at 46,000, with
another 67,000 family members providing care at home within the last
year.
Alzheimer's kills more people in the U.S. than breast cancer and
prostate cancer combined, according to statistics shared by the
Alzheimer's Association, which is helping to fund research projects in
dozens of countries around the world.
[to top of second column]
|
A billboard flashes a message as part of a new statewide Alzheimer's
awareness campaign that includes digital advertisements around in
Albuquerque, N.M., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan
Montoya Bryan)
 One of the challenges is that only
about half of the people who are living with the disease are ever
diagnosed, said Jim Herlihy, a spokesperson for the association's
Rocky Mountain region. The number of undiagnosed people is higher in
communities of color, he said.
Neurologists say it can take 20 years from the start of the disease
taking shape in the brain to when it becomes recognizable and
diagnosed, what Herlihy describes as a glacial pace.
“People think of this as either an old person’s disease or something
that happens to somebody else,” Herlihy said. “And unless it’s
happened in your family and you have seen a loved one decline from
this disease, or you have been put into the role of being a
caregiver, you don’t realize the impact that this has.”
The nonprofit association published a special report last year
detailing the importance of families mapping out a plan for care,
acknowledging that it can be a complex maze involving social
services, medications and specialists.
The billboards and ads are simple. One of them pictures a caution
sign in the road that reads: “Honey, you've been confused.” The
messages urge people to talk about it and to visit a website that
includes a hotline for those who don't know where to start.
A significant percentage of New Mexico's population is aging, which
has spurred officials to find ways to educate and prepare state
residents. In addition to the awareness campaign, the state is
planning a series of community forums on the subject this spring in
rural areas with high rates of the disease.
The Alzheimer's Association is hoping the campaign will expand to
other states.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
