SENATE HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND SENIOR CITIZENS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1673

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 9, 2021

      The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1673.

      This bill requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to establish Alzheimer’s disease public awareness campaign.

      Under the bill, the Commissioner of Human Services, subject to available funds, is to establish an Alzheimer's disease public awareness and education 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 DHS 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; and (3) development of educational programs for judicial staff, police officers, fire fighters, and social services 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.

      The bill provides that the DHS, in consultation with the Greater New Jersey Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, is to prepare and make available on the DHS’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. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments revise the bill to make the Department of Human Services responsible for establishing the Alzheimer’s disease public awareness campaign, rather than the Department of Health.  The amendments revise the title and synopsis of the bill and various references within the bill to reflect this change.

      The committee amendments remove language that would require the public awareness campaign to include information concerning the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, which causes are not currently known, and instead require that the campaign include information about the symptoms and warning signs of the disease.

      The committee amendments remove provisions that would have required the DHS to develop and maintain a list of Alzheimer’s disease care providers.

      The committee amendments remove language from the bill that, as amended by the committee, would have required the DHS to continue New Jersey’s Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, which is a program that is currently run by the Department of Health.

      The committee amendments make various technical changes to address issues related to grammar, punctuation, and syntax.