About Us
Dementia Partners Woodbury
Dementia Partners Woodbury is a collaboration between Woodbury Thrives, Washington County Public Health, several local nonprofits and businesses, focused on providing easy-to-find resources and support to people with dementia and their caregivers. Our goal is to make Woodbury a more friendly and inclusive place to live, work, play, conduct business, and worship. We are housed at the Woodbury Community Foundation.
Why is this important?
Dementia is a umbrella term for a loss of memory and other thinking abilities that is serious enough to interfere with activities of daily life. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, is a disease of the brain that leads to problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. Alzheimer’s and other dementias are not a normal part of aging. A diagnosis of dementia can be scary, and learning more about it can help us cope. This document gives a basic overview of dementia and how it impacts the brain.
Dementia Facts:
In the United States, a person is diagnosed with dementia approximately every minute. In the United States, about 1 out of every 9 people over the age of 65 have dementia. By age 90, about 1 in 3 people have dementia. Nationwide, about 1 in 3 seniors who die each year has dementia. In Minnesota, about 100,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s, and this is estimated to grow to 120,000 by 2025. About 257,000 family caregivers statewide bear the burden of the disease. 48% of caregivers who care for an older adult do so for someone with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2021 Facts and Figures Report:
- In 2020, more than 11 million caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias provided an estimated 15.3 billion hours of unpaid care, a contribution to the nation valued at $257 billion.
- Approximately two-thirds of caregivers are women, and one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters.
- Forty-one percent of caregivers have a household income of $50,000 or less.
- In 2021, total payments for all individuals with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are estimated at $355 billion (not including unpaid caregiving).
- Medicare and Medicaid are expected to cover $239 billion or 67% of the total health care and long-term care payments for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Out-of-pocket spending is expected to be $76 billion.
- Total payments for health care, long-term care and hospice care for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are projected to increase to more than $1.1 trillion in 2050.
- The total lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia is estimated at $373,527.
History:
Dementia Partners Woodbury formed in 2020 with a grant from the Metro Area Agency on Aging (now Trellis), focused on developing “dementia-friendly communities.” We are launching this comprehensive, one-stop website for dementia resources and reaching out to local workplaces to provide Dementia Friendly @ Work Training. This training is provided by FamilyMeans and funded by The Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) grant through Washington County. Our initial sponsors were Artis Senior Living and Woodbury Senior Living.
Woodbury:
In Woodbury, we have X senior centers and about 12% of our population is over the age of 65. We want our fellow community members to enjoy being part of the fabric of Woodbury, and there are simple steps everyone in our community can take to make us a more welcoming, vibrant place. Check out this video from the Alzheimer Society UK to see how we all can play a role!