Congresswoman Kuster at The Birches at Concord

Photo courtesy of Geoff Forester of the Concord Monitor

High resolution version of the photo is available here.

(Concord, NH)- Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) visited The Birches at Concord to meet with residents and caregivers and discuss the challenges associated with caring for people suffering from Alzheimer’s. More than 20,000 Granite Staters suffer from Alzheimer’s, a number that is expected to grow by as much as 37% by 2025. Kuster discussed her personal experience caring for her mother, the late State Senator Susan McLane, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and passed away in 2005. Kuster is working to advance legislative proposals to improve outcomes for people with the disease. She’s cosponsored the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, which would enable public health officials to promote prevention, early detection and diagnosis and to collect data, as well as the Concentrating on High-Value Alzheimer’s Needs to Get to an End (CHANGE) Act, which would direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to identify tools that will incentivize clinicians to detect, refer and diagnose Alzheimer’s and related dementias in their earliest stages. Kuster has also advocated for additional funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has requested that the NIH increase its funding dedicated to Alzheimer’s to $2.23 billion for fiscal year 2019.

“I know firsthand the challenges Alzheimer’s poses, not just to the individual facing the disease but their friends and loved ones as well,” said Kuster. “We must expand support for caregivers so that they are able to effectively care for loved ones struggling with Alzheimer’s. This is a disease that takes a serious emotional as well as physical toll and we must focus on improving medical care but also enhancing emotional support for patients and caregivers. I will continue to work with my colleagues to advocate for robust funding for medical research so that we can improve prevention and someday find a cure for Alzheimer’s.”  

“It was so wonderful of Congresswoman Kuster to come today and speak at The Birches at Concord,” said Chuck Crush, Executive Director of The Birches at Concord. “We are so fortunate to have our Congresswoman not only take the time to come to our community, but also to have a personal story about the disease.  Congresswoman Kuster’s visit is best summed up in her mother’s words, ‘There are those who follow where others lead, and there are those who blaze their own trail.’  We are so fortunate that Congresswoman Kuster is blazing her own trail and inspires us all to blaze our own trail on our journey.”

Kuster wrote an op-ed on the need for New Hampshire to invest in Alzheimer’s research. The op-ed can be read here on the Concord Monitor’s website.

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