TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Mark Hall and his wife have been married for over 40 years. Five years ago Debra Hall was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she is beyond the moderate stage.
“It’s a really difficult challenge,” Hall said. “Something always happens. You sort of have to turn on a dime and just make adjustments to what needs to happen.”
In Arizona, the Alzheimer’s Association said 152,000 people who are 65 and older have Alzheimer’s and they said there are 292,000 family caregivers.
SB 1210 would put $750 thousand towards increasing awareness in rural and undeserved urban areas.
“Awareness is extremely important. I wish that we were at this point in awareness that a lot of other people should be at,” Hall said.
Right now the bill is in the House and they’re talking about it. If they approve it, it would go to Governor Katie Hobbs who will decide yes or no.
Kristen Moore Bennett is the Southern Arizona regional director for the Alzheimer’s Association. She said a previous bill gave them money for a media campaign that got more than 54 million impressions.
“This next round they really want to focus on modifiable risk factors,” she said. “If you don’t know to advocate for yourself and your loved one, that’s why the awareness is so important.”
The bill would also make the organization who gets the money have a 24/7 hotline to give people information and referrals. The Alzheimer’s Association already has one.
“It could be something as simple as needing referrals to someone just needing to cry because their parent or partner has wandered at night,” Moore Bennett said.
Hall said the bill is important because if passed, it would make people aware to test early.
“Somebody that’s at risk now has the opportunity to change some of their lifestyle,” he said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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