Bill Text: CA SCR50 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and The Longest Day.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 63-24-1)
Status: (Passed) 2021-07-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 71, Statutes of 2021. [SCR50 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SCR50-Chaptered.html
Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 50
CHAPTER 71
Relative to Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and The Longest Day.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
July 09, 2021.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 50, Ochoa Bogh.
Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and The Longest Day.
This measure would recognize the month of June 2021 as Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and Sunday, June 20, 2021, as The Longest Day, and would urge all Californians to commemorate the month of June 2021 as Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, The month of June 2021 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 20, 2021, 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 the state’s population of residents living with Alzheimer’s disease is projected to grow by 21.7 percent in the next five years, impacting 840,000 individuals by 2025; 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 nongovernment 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, African Americans, Hispanics, and women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and have higher prevalence rates than the general population; and
WHEREAS, According to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), African Americans have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias at 13.8 percent, followed by Hispanics at 12.2 percent, and women are nearly two times more likely to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease than men; 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, or cure, 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
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes June 2021 as Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and Sunday, June 20, 2021, as The Longest Day, and urges all Californians to commemorate the month of June 2021 as Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
