A new supplement issue of The Gerontological Society of America's journal The Gerontologist marks 20 years of public health leadership on dementia through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Healthy Brain Initiative (HBI) and highlights unprecedented progress in establishing dementia as a public health priority nationwide. Accelerated through implementation of the federal government's Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure (BOLD) Act, the supplement documents how brain health, dementia risk reduction, early detection, and caregiving are now core components of public health practice.
The supplement, titled " Healthy Brain Initiative and Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure: Dementia as a Public Health Imperative ," features 10 articles documenting the reach and implementation of a national public health approach to dementia, demonstrating how coordination accelerates collective impact and progress nationwide.
"The public health implications of dementia and dementia caregiving are immense," said Joseph E. Gaugler, PhD, FGSA, director of the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving and editor-in-chief of The Gerontologist. "This supplemental issue demonstrates how the Healthy Brain Initiative and the BOLD Act have built and expanded public health infrastructure to meet the many challenges of dementia and dementia care in our families, communities, states, and nation."
Gaugler served as supplement co-editor alongside John Shean, MPH, and Alisha A. Etheredge, MS, MPH, with Steven M. Albert, PhD, FGSA, serving as editor-in-chief. Financial support for the development and publication of this supplement was provided by the Alzheimer's Association as part of a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The supplement traces the evolution of dementia as a national public health and policy priority, highlighting milestones such as the HBI Road Map Series, expansion of cognitive decline and caregiving surveillance data, and federal grants awarded to state, local, and territorial health departments through the BOLD Act.
Three articles from the BOLD Public Health Centers of Excellence illustrate a life course approach to dementia, examining risk reduction, early detection and caregiving. Additional manuscripts focus on populations disproportionately impacted by dementia, including African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"The journey of the HBI and the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act over the past two decades has demonstrated remarkable progress and accomplishments in addressing the challenges posed by the national public health issues of Alzheimer's and caregiving for persons living with dementia," wrote Lisa C. McGuire, PhD, FAPA, FGSA, and Heidi L. Holt, MPA, in the supplement's opening editorial . "Through collaborative efforts among federal agencies, public health organizations, and community stakeholders, these national efforts have established a robust framework that prioritizes brain health as a critical component of public health."
