Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom and Maria Shriver, former first lady, announced via Twitter the 28 members of the Governor’s Task Force on Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness.
Shriver chairs the task force, which will present recommendations to the Governor on how local communities, private organizations, businesses, government and families can prevent and prepare for the rise in the number of cases of Alzheimer’s disease.
The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that by 2030 about 1 in 5 Californians will be age 65 or older, a reminder of the importance of tackling the policy, economic and health challenges for those with age-related brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and the families who care for those individuals.
Shriver is a leading advocate for families dealing with Alzheimer’s. Former Secretary of State George Shultz will serve as strategic adviser to the task force, which includes scientists, physicians, a blogger diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer’s and her husband, representatives of health care workers, and a University of California, Merced student who has developed a computer vision algorithm that can help detect the presence of Alzheimer’s.
To see the full list of task force members and their biographies, visit the task force section of the California Health and Human Services Agency website at www.chhs.ca.gov.
