The Maryland Department of Health is receiving a $2.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase the general understanding and awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias and to help the state government implement its Alzheimer’s roadmap.

The grant is part of the federal government’s BOLD program, which gives states and localities money to fund their Alzheimer’s implementation plans through the end of 2028.

“Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias represent an urgent and costly public health crisis,” said Maryland Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott. “This grant will help Maryland provide support and resources within communities most impacted by this devastating disease and lessen the burden on caregivers and families.”

Maryland’s roadmap was rolled out in 2022. It outlines five strategies to address the needs of the aging population: expanding awareness, enhancing access to care, expanding support for family caregivers, advancing research and bettering data to related to the impact of dementia.

Care for people with dementia in Maryland costs Medicare about $1.2 billion and that is expected to increase by 25% by 2025.

Baltimore City is tied for the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease in any jurisdiction in the nation, and Maryland is also the state with the highest instance of the illness.

A total of 16.6% of the nearly 88,000 people over 65 living in Baltimore suffer from the disease.

“We don't know all the facts, there's still a lot of ongoing research in these populations,” Megeen White, a medical research champion for the Alzheimer's Association Greater Maryland Chapter said. “However, we know that cardiovascular diseases negatively impact brain health.”

Race may also be a factor.

“African Americans have dementia at twice the rate as white people and Latinos have dementia at one and a half times the rate as white people,” said David McShea, the executive director of the Alzheimer's Association Greater Maryland Chapter.