Iowa
Law School offers Class to the public on
Alzheimer's Disease and the Law
Newswise, December 20,
2011 — The American population is aging
rapidly as the baby boomers start to turn 65
this year, and medical research suggests
that more and more of them will suffer from
Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias that
affect memory, thinking, and behavior as
they age.
A colloquium this
spring at the University of Iowa College of
Law will examine the challenges posed by
these developments to law and public policy.
The public will be able to view colloquium
sessions via the internet during the spring
semester.
It will feature some
of the country's top experts and will be
coordinated by Josephine Gittler, professor
of law at UI, and Kathleen Buckwalter,
professor emerita of gerontological nursing
at UI. They will also conduct some sessions.
The 13 weekly class sessions begin Thursday,
Jan. 12.
"Americans over the
age of 65 now make up nearly 13 percent of
the total population, and their number is
expected to more than double by 2050," says
Gittler. "And Iowa has one of the largest
percentages of elderly residents in the
country."
Gittler said that as
older people with dementia lose their
ability to make decisions, they are
vulnerable to financial exploitation, abuse,
and neglect.
"And they often
require costly care over a period of years,"
she says. "This year, the public cost of
caring for dementia patients will total an
estimated $183 billion, jumping to more than
$1 trillion by 2050."
Sessions will be live
streamed via the internet and videos and
podcasts will be available on the website of
the National Health Law and Policy Resource
Center at the College of Law.
The sessions will
address such public policy and legal issues
as:
*Substitute, or
surrogate, decision making for older persons
who lack the capacity to make decisions
regarding financial matters and health care
due to dementia, as well as other causes.
*Financial
exploitation, abuse, and neglect of older
persons, including those suffering from
dementia.
*The financing, organization, and provision
of long term care for the elderly with
dementia and other persons with long term
care needs.
*The regulation of nursing homes and other
facilities and institutions providing care
for older persons suffering from dementia.
There is increasing awareness of the need to
address the problems arising from dramatic
growth in the aging population and the
dramatic rise in Alzheimer's. Earlier this
year, President Barack Obama signed the
National Alzheimer's Project that calls for
an "aggressive and coordinated national
strategy" to combat the crisis of an aging
population and the rise in Alzheimer's and
other dementias. Similarly in Iowa, the Iowa
Alzheimer's Disease Response Strategy was
passed to direct the development of a state
strategy that responds to the needs of
Iowans with dementia.
For further information see National Health
Law and Policy website: http://www.uiowa.edu/~law-nhlp/.
