Lackawanna County proclaims World Alzheimer's Awareness Day; local volunteer urges prevention and caregiver supports

Lackawanna County commissioners on Sept. 17 read a proclamation recognizing Sept. 21, 2025, as World Alzheimer's Awareness Day in the county and invited local advocates to speak.

Bill Gahan and Chris Chermack read the proclamation into the record, citing statewide statistics included in the proclamation: more than 282,000 Pennsylvanians age 65 and older living with Alzheimer's and other figures about caregiver hours and costs that were read aloud at the meeting. After the proclamation, Mark Entwistle, who identified himself as "a volunteer with the association" and an awareness champion, described his personal experience caring for family members with Alzheimer's and summarized advocacy priorities he has worked on in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.

Entwistle highlighted several policy topics: the creation of a state office for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias through recent legislation he cited as "SB 841, which is now Act 111," dementia-care training proposals for primary-care providers, and the "ADAPT Act" ("accelerating access to dementia and Alzheimer's provider training") to expand training for primary care clinicians. He also described outreach work, volunteer recruitment and public education on "10 healthy habits for your brain," and said flyers and resource cards (including an alz.org hotline number he read aloud) were available after the presentation.

Why it matters

Speakers and the proclamation stressed that Alzheimer's is a growing public-health challenge with significant caregiving demands; the county's recognition does not create new services but signals local awareness and a willingness to highlight caregiver resources and state-level policy changes.

Ending

Commissioners presented the proclamation to Entwistle and photographs were taken at the dais. Entwistle stood at the meeting after his remarks to take questions and to distribute resources.