Bill Establishing Indiana State Dementia Plan Signed Into Law

WBIW-AM reports that Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has signed into law a bill mandating that the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration Division of Aging draft a strategic dementia plan. "It is a declaration that at last, we are taking this disease seriously," declared Rep. Gregory Porter (D), who authored the bill. "To the hundred thousand Hoosiers like my mother who face dementia every day, and to the loyal caregivers who stand by them — we are with you and we are for you because we are you." Indiana is one of the few U.S. states currently lacking a dementia plan, which will help healthcare providers and organizations coordinate care statewide. A plan should also help Indiana obtain federal funding through the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure Act. The bill's advocates include the Indiana Association of Area Agencies on Aging, CICOA Aging and In-Home Solutions, Dementia Friends Indiana, the Indiana Health Care Association, and the Indiana Center for Assisted Living. "The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Hoosiers living with dementia and their caregivers especially hard, exposing gaps in the system that left them especially vulnerable," said Natalie Sutton with the Alzheimer's Association Greater Indiana Chapter. "This legislation is a crucial step to making Indiana a more dementia-capable state."