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DHS and Alzheimer’s Association present 2024 dementia report, highlight Georgia Memory Net and caregiver burden
Summary
The Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services and the Alzheimer’s Association presented a 2024 dementia report, citing about 188,000 Georgians age 65+ estimated to be living with Alzheimer’s, substantial caregiver burdens, and state investments in Georgia Memory Net (GMN) and dementia care specialists.
Mary Lee Boatwright Quinn, assistant deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services, and Nancy Petrie, director of government affairs for the Alzheimer's Association and chair of the GARD advisory council, presented the Division’s 2024 dementia report to the House Public and Community Health Committee.
“The guard state plan was established in code in 2014,” Boatwright Quinn said, describing the statutory framework for a state advisory council and the mandate to provide a dementia report. The report, prepared with the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute, will now be updated on a four‑year cadence and used to guide targeted public-health interventions.
Presenters summarized statewide data and program activity. The report estimates about 188,000 Georgians age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease; approximately 74,000 of those are Medicare beneficiaries with a formal diagnosis. Boatwright Quinn said the average age at diagnosis is higher for women (about 81) than for men (about 78). The presenters noted that about 40% of dementia cases are associated with modifiable risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, poor sleep and inactivity.
The committee heard that dementia imposes large costs on families and the Medicaid program. Nancy Petrie said national estimates place direct medical costs for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) at roughly $196 billion in 2019 and caregiver time costs at about $254 billion; Georgia’s Medicaid cost for ADRD was reported as $1.265 billion in 2020 and estimated to have risen about 26% since then. Petrie said Georgia has an estimated 375,000 Alzheimer’s caregivers providing about 755,000,000 hours of unpaid care annually.
Presenters also reviewed access to specialty care and workforce gaps. They showed maps illustrating a concentration of neurologists in the Atlanta region and noted insufficient specialist coverage in many rural parts of the state. The Georgia Memory Net (GMN) program uses a mix of diagnostic clinics and telehealth sites to extend specialist diagnostic protocols statewide; presenters said GMN will provide the General Assembly with a one‑page summary this session with client statistics.
Boatwright Quinn highlighted a new dementia care specialist program placed in each area agency on aging, and she credited prior legislative investments. “All of these investments of state funds, resources, and leadership focus have made us the envy of other states,” she said, describing the state’s work on early and accurate diagnosis, caregiver supports and risk‑reduction activities.
Committee members asked about research participation, workforce pipelines, equity of access in South Georgia and the potential interaction of caregiver supports with other state programs. Boatwright Quinn and Petrie said they are pursuing targeted grants and pilot sites in southern Georgia, collaborating with the Department of Community Health and university partners on workforce initiatives, and will follow up on specific funding‑and‑program queries off the record.
