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UT HEALTH

I say this because there is an approaching “tsunami” of ing Alzheimer’s and dementia information in their clinics.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia as our population ages. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is working with our School of
Statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association show that: Nursing to provide training for deputies on how to recognize de-
mentia in order to provide appropriate support to those community
• In 2019, 5.8 million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s members and their families. They also initiated a vehicle sticker pro-
disease. This includes 200,000 people younger than age 65. gram for families living with Alzheimer’s to help law enforcement
officers recognize that a person with dementia may be on board.
• Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S.
The San Antonio & South Texas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s As-
and has an economic burden of $290 billion.
sociation provides statistics on these diseases, and supports those
• Texas ranks fourth nationally for the prevalence of Alzheimer’s, who are diagnosed, their caregivers and the medical professionals
with 390,000 individuals living with the disease. who care for them. The organization raises funds for needed re-
search, provides support groups, education programs and volunteer
• The state is second in the number of Alzheimer’s-related deaths,
opportunities.
with a 180% increase from 2000 to 2015.
However, some of the most important voices we need to hear
• Hispanics are about 1.5 times more likely to develop dementia, are yours and those of families living with Alzheimer’s disease. You
making San Antonio and South Texas particularly vulnerable to can help by thoughtfully listening to the concerns of your patients,
this disease. learning more about the community resources available for them
and investigating ways to refer your patients and their caregivers to
• Nationally, more than 16.2 million Americans provide unpaid
research studies. Through collaboration, we can better understand
care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. That in-
these diseases and help our patients live through these challenging
cludes 1.4 million unpaid caregivers in Texas.
times.
• In the U.S., unpaid caregivers provide an estimated 18.5 billion I am proud of the work being done by so many members of the
hours of care each year, valued at nearly $234 billion. UT Health San Antonio family to improve the quality of life for
people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, while
• Texas caregivers provided 1.6 billion hours of unpaid care at ap-
always keeping in mind the welfare of their families and caregivers.
proximately $20.6 billion per year.
We will continue to work tirelessly to tackle and eventually annihilate
this terrible disease.
We at UT Health San Antonio are doing our best to stem this
We invite you to join the Dementia Friendly City initiative, and
tide through our Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurode-
learn about the many resources available to family caregivers, by vis-
generative Diseases, where we are providing the latest evidence-based
iting utcaregivers.org or calling (210) 450-8862. Information about
care, conducting research and educating the next generation of health
research and patient care is available through the Biggs Institute at
professionals to care for this growing segment of the population.
biggsinstitute.org and (210) 450-9960.
Through the Caring for the Caregiver program, led by Carole
White, Ph.D., RN, our School of Nursing is providing regularly sched-
The University of Texas Health Science Center
uled training classes for new caregivers, social opportunities for care-
at San Antonio, now called UT Health San Anto-
givers and their loved ones, and even a choir called Grace Notes.
nio, is one of the country’s leading health sciences uni-
Caring for the Caregiver supports the Dementia Friendly City advi-
versities. With missions of teaching, research, healing
sory board and is the community champion for this initiative.
and community engagement, its schools of medicine,
Thanks to the Dementia Friendly initiative, there is a strong core
nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate
of organizations looking for additional ways to embrace those living
biomedical sciences have produced 36,500 alumni
with dementia and their caregivers, but there is always room for more.
who are leading change, advancing their fields and re-
Our colleagues at University Hospital System have the distinction
newing hope for patients and their families throughout
of being the first Dementia Friendly hospital system in Texas. They
South Texas and the world. To learn about the many
are training their nursing staff to recognize dementia and support
ways “We make lives better,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.
families while their loved one is hospitalized. They also are provid-
visit us at www.bcms.org 33