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Ensuring the adequacy of long term care of AD patients: Special challenges and advocacy mechanisms

School of Social Work, Florida International University, North Miami, Florida

Juanita L. Garcia, EdD

Department of Gerontology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Iryna M. Dulka, MSW

The Centre for Applied Family Studies, School of Social Work, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The world is aging. The United Nations' has estimated an increase in those 65 years of age and older in the world from 6 percent of the total population in 1985 to 9.7 percent of the population by the year 2025. The growth in the elderly population is most significant among the oldest of the old.

While the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is related to advanced age (as are other forms of dementia), it can be concluded that the aging of the world will result in an increase in the worldwide number of AD patients. For example, in the United States presently there are in excess of 2.5 million persons with AD and 100,000 AD patients are dying on a yearly basis-it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States for the elderly, following heart disease, cancer, and stroke.² Holmes et al project that the number of AD victims in the United States will increase to over 14 million persons by the year 2050.3 It has been estimated that one-third of all American families have at least one parent who has AD.⁴

American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias®, Vol. 12, No. 1, 3-9 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/153331759701200102


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