The new Brain Health Coalition seeks to make memory care part of routine checkups in midlife. | Photo courtesy of HealthyWomen
What you probably already know: A new initiative seeks to make Alzheimer’s disease a routine part of midlife care rather than a reactionary health condition later in life. Nonprofit health organization HealthyWomen has launched the Brain Health Coalition with the goal of uniting employers, health systems, medical associations and research institutions around the three pillars of perception, education and policy “because progress in one without the others does not hold.” The Alzheimer’s Association says the projected number of cases is expected to rise to nearly 13 million by 2050 unless there are breakthroughs in prevention or a cure. Women account for about two-thirds of dementia cases, partially because they live longer but also because women are about twice as likely to have an autoimmune disease.
Why it matters: “Brain health has been treated as something to worry about later in life, when the evidence is clear that the time to act is decades earlier,” HealthyWomen CEO Beth Battaglino says. “We are convening this coalition because the relationships, the reach and the urgency all point to now.” Dementia is on the rise mainly because people are living longer, but the statistics can be misleading. Research shows that “the common perception that little progress has been made” may be incorrect, according to research published by the National Library of Medicine. Dementia rates actually declined by two-thirds in the U.S, from 1984 to 2024, with researchers noting that “the declines were unexpected and largely ignored.”
What it means: HealthyWomen notes that Alzheimer’s-related brain changes can begin decades before symptoms appear, making midlife a “consequential window” for intervention. The Brain Health Coalition is an all-out effort on several fronts, including amplifying existing efforts and reducing siloes that stall progress. Coalition leadership consists of several influential organizations, including the Alzheimer’s Association; the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the National Health Council. It also features corporate partners and scientific advisers, including Eli Lilly & Co. and Dr. Lisa Mosconi, PhD, an associate professor of neuroscience in neurology and radiology and director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Weill Cornell Medicine New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
What happens next: The Coalition offers an array of patients and caregiver resources, including a comprehensive tools and resource center, with focus on women’s biological risk factors, equity gaps and lived experiences. “Midlife is a critical window for taking action,” says Katie Evans, chief programs and mission engagement officer at the Alzheimer’s Association, adding that the group will build a “cross-sector infrastructure that will help support a future where early screening is as routine as checking blood pressure or cholesterol.” Adds Battaglino: “This is about building the infrastructure for change across sectors, across communities and for every American.”
