SUPERVISOR DIANNE JACOB

San Diego County Board of Supervisors

Contact: Steve Schmidt, 619-206-9108, steve.schmidt@sdcounty.ca.gov

NEWS RELEASE
3/1/16

COUNTY, PHYSICIANS UNVEIL NEW TOOL

TO HELP THOSE WITH ALZHEIMERS DISEASE
San Diego Countys 3,500 primary care doctors are gaining a critical tool to diagnose
and help the growing number of people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of
dementia.
Supervisor Dianne Jacob, joined by medical experts, today (March 1) announced the
creation of the regions first standards for the screening and management of dementia.
Many primary care doctors havent had clear, consistent standards on what
Alzheimers looks like and often patients are not properly diagnosed, Jacob said. But
with this new tool, doctors will be able to identify those with dementia faster and help
them get the resources they need.
The standards were developed by medical experts gathered under the umbrella of
The Alzheimers Project, the county-led effort to boost care and find a cure for the more
than 62,000 San Diegans with dementia.
Were positioning San Diego as the nations top medical research hub in the race to
beat Alzheimers the third-leading cause of death in the region, said Mayor Kevin L.
Faulconer, a member of The Alzheimers Project Steering Committee and Cure
Roundtable. San Diego is using its famous spirit of collaboration to bring together local
scientists, philanthropists and research institutes to yield promising breakthroughs that
could end the scourge of Alzheimers. Im proud to be a part of this regional effort and
harness the collaboration that is a part of San Diegos DNA.
Dr. Michael Lobatz, a neurologist at Scripps Health, and the countys Chief Medical
Officer, Dr. Nick Yphantides, led the effort to craft the standards.
Scripps physicians have started using them on a trial basis, with primary care doctors
at Kaiser Permanente, UC San Diego, Sharp Rees-Stealy and other health care
systems expected to follow.

I think what we are doing is a model for other regions, counties and states, said
Lobatz. Dementia care in the U.S. is fragmented and piecemeal and depending on
what door a patient and family walk through, they get very different care. This will help
eliminate those differences.
The announcement of the standards came as the county released the 2016
Alzheimers Project annual report, nearly a year after the Board of Supervisors
approved a detailed road map for attacking the disease, the regions third leading cause
of death.
For the first time, we have top researchers, neurologists, eldercare experts, public
universities, health care systems and others working together to end this terrible
epidemic, said San Diego philanthropist Darlene Shiley, a leading participant. This
amazing level of teamwork is welcome news for families dealing with the devastating toll
of dementia.
Supervisor Jacob spearheaded the creation of The Alzheimers Project in 2014.
Since then, it has:
Strengthened the safety net for those with dementia, through improvements in the
Sheriffs Departments Take Me Home program and the regions missing persons alert
system.
Launched a one-of-a-kind research incubator on Torrey Pines Mesa to pave the
way to a cure, tapping into the expertise of the regions best and brightest brain
researchers. This effort is funded by generous donations from Shiley and others to
Collaboration4Cure, run by Alzheimers San Diego.
Teamed up with our largest public universities to boost training for the next
generation of geriatric health care workers, with the help of a $2.5 million federal grant
awarded to San Diego State University.
The county today also released updated figures on the growing impact of the
disease. At least 62,000 local residents 55 and older have some form of dementia. The
report says that number will grow to nearly 100,000 by 2030.
The county is the regions lead public health agency.
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