Hopeful Together - Terrie's Story

For National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month this November, the Alzheimer’s Association is stressing the importance of family members being proactive in initiating conversations if they notice cognitive changes in a loved one. Currently, more than six million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, but fewer than half have received an official diagnosis.

To motivate families to discuss such concerns sooner than later, the Alzheimer’s Association has teamed up with the Ad Council to launch a new national communications campaign, "Hopeful Together." An early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia can provide a person with a better chance of benefiting from treatment and better prepare them for symptoms yet to come and build support that may be needed.

Bringing up the topic, however, is not easy. Fewer than half of Americans polled in a new Alzheimer’s Association–Ad Council survey (44 percent) say they would talk to a loved one right away about seeing a doctor if they noticed signs of cognitive decline. Instead, they say they are more likely to check in with other relatives (56 percent) and do research online (50 percent) when observing troubling signs.