ASSEMBLY AGING AND SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2632

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 7, 2020

      The Assembly Aging and Senior Services Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2632.

      This bill requires the Commissioner of Health (commissioner), subject to available funds, to establish an Alzheimer's disease public awareness and education program (program).  The purpose of the program is to promote public awareness of Alzheimer's disease and the value of early detection and possible treatments, including the benefits and risks of those treatments.  The Department of Health (DOH) may accept for that purpose any grant of monies, services, or property from the federal government, an organization, or a medical school.

      The program is to include the following:  (1) development of a public campaign to promote Alzheimer's disease awareness and education, including, but not limited to, the subjects outlined in the bill; (2) development of educational materials to be made available through local boards of health, physicians, hospitals, and clinics; (3) development of educational programs for judicial staff, police officers, fire fighters, and social and emergency medical service providers, to assist them in recognizing the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and understanding how to respond to the needs of persons with the disease in the course of performing their duties; (4) development and maintenance of a list of current providers of services for the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which is to include a description of diagnostic procedures and a statement about the current status of Alzheimer's disease research and treatment indicating that the department does not endorse specific Alzheimer's disease centers in this State; and (5) continuation of New Jersey’s Behavioral Risk Factor Survey.

      The bill provides that the department, in consultation with the Greater New Jersey Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, is to prepare and make available on the department’s Internet website in English and Spanish, and in a manner that is easily understandable by the general public, information about the symptoms and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and any other information that the commissioner deems necessary.