June marks Alzheimer’s Brain Awareness Month, and the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has launched a new awareness campaign, backed by a $750,000 grant from the Arizona Department of Health Services This initiative focuses on reaching rural and underserved communities in Arizona, aiming to educate and support those affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Terri Spitz, Executive Director of the Desert Southwest Chapter Alzheimer’s Association, joined Arizona Horizon to share detailed insights about the campaign’s goals, strategies, and anticipated impact on raising awareness and providing resources to these communities. “This awareness campaign is so important because we are now in the area of treatment,” said Spitz regarding a new Alzheimer’s drug, Donanemab, from Eli Lilly and Company released last week. Spitz added, “So getting awareness to a lot of these communities that there’s hope out there that this isn’t like a death sentence, it’s not something that you can just any kind of finality. There’s hope that we have treatments out there, and it’s really all about educating the community.” When educating and providing awareness upon the early signs of Alzheimer’s, Spitz stated, “Our chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has training and education. Why this awareness campaign is so important, the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Dementia is where these treatments are effective. Every day, 2,000 people move from that stage to the next and they kind of move out of that criteria.” Spitz further emphasized, “Get the education and make sure that there’s hope out there, if you are feeling like things aren’t right, go to the doctor and get a cognitive assessment. See if you can get an early accurate diagnoses because you could qualify for something that could give you more time.”
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