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Lawmakers, advocates push updated Alzheimer’s bill to expand training, statewide coordination
Summary
Legislators and health, public‑safety and advocacy groups urged support for H.769/S.468, which would expand dementia training to first responders, create a dementia services coordinator, strengthen hospital discharge protections and add dementia care coordination benefits to certain plans.
State lawmakers and a coalition of health and aging organizations urged the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs on Tuesday to advance H.769 and S.468, “an act to improve care and prepare for the new era of Alzheimer’s and dementia,” arguing the measures update Massachusetts policy to address rising case counts and new treatment options.
Representative Danielle Gregoire, sponsor of earlier 2018 Alzheimer’s legislation, told the committee she returned “to the table with a new proposal” after identifying gaps in care that persist since the 2018 Omnibus Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Act. “We decided… it was time to include fire, police and EMTs in that training,” Gregoire said, describing provisions that would expand required dementia training beyond health professionals to first responders and establish a statewide dementia services coordinator.
The bill would also require improved discharge planning for patients with dementia and expand patient and caregiver rights in hospital settings, proponents said. “Caregivers are not visitors. Caregivers are actually a part of the care team,”…
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