WHEREAS, The month of June 2022 has been declared Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month to help educate the public on this debilitating disease and the need to increase efforts to combat its human and economic costs; and

WHEREAS, The summer solstice, June 21, 2022, has been declared The Longest Day, with people around the world coming together to honor the strength, passion, and endurance of people facing Alzheimer’s disease with a day of activity and advocacy; and

WHEREAS, Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder, tragically robs individuals of their memories and leads to cognitive decline resulting in functional, emotional, and behavioral impairment; and

WHEREAS, California has 690,000 residents living with Alzheimer’s disease, more than any other state in the nation; and

WHEREAS, Recent research published by the California Department of Public Health in 2021 indicates that over the next 20 years, the impact of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia will increase dramatically. While the population of California will expand by 16 percent, the population of people living with Alzheimer’s will expand by 127 percent; and

WHEREAS, Research on the expansion of people living with Alzheimer’s showed communities of color will shoulder a disproportionate share of the increase in prevalence of Alzheimer’s. The number of Latinx or Hispanic Californians living with Alzheimer’s will more than triple, while the number of Black Californians living with Alzheimer’s will nearly triple by 2040. Additionally, the number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders living with Alzheimer’s will more than double; and

WHEREAS, Californians with dementia visit emergency departments nearly 1,000,000 times per year and are readmitted to the hospital one out of five times after discharge; and

WHEREAS, Alzheimer’s disease is always fatal, and it is the third leading cause of death in California today; and

WHEREAS, Alzheimer’s disease is a family disease, impacting 1,120,000 California spouses, partners, children, siblings, grandchildren, and other relatives who provide unpaid assistance to a loved one; and

WHEREAS, California caregivers devote 884,000,000 hours of unpaid assistance to family members, valued at over $18,126,000,000 in nongovernmental financial support; and

WHEREAS, California’s 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey found that 27.1 percent of people with memory problems in California live alone; and

WHEREAS, Disparities in detection and diagnosis persist, resulting in less than 50 percent of individuals affected by the disease receiving a formal diagnosis that is disclosed to them by a clinician and documented in their medical record; and

WHEREAS, On average, a person with Alzheimer’s disease lives 4 to 8 years after diagnosis, but may live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors; and

WHEREAS, Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, which has no known cause, cure, or prevention; and

WHEREAS, Californians invest in Alzheimer’s research through the voluntary tax check-off fund and have raised more than $25,000,000 since its inception for research into treatments to slow the progression of, and cure for, the disease; and

WHEREAS, Individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers need acknowledgment, support, and services to meet their needs over the lengthy progression of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias; now, therefore, be it