Alzheimer’s disease cases are predicted to reach 14 million by 2060, with minority populations mostly being affected, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Research showed cases among African Americans will increase four times over today’s estimates.
Research also showed health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes may account for these differences, as they are more common in the Hispanic and African American populations.
Lower levels of education, higher rates of poverty, and greater exposure to adversity and discrimination may also increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the CDC.
The Alzheimer’s Association announced a two-year partnership with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to support individuals and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease in early June.
“We are excited for the opportunity to partner with the Alzheimer’s Association to promote brain health as well as to offer education and awareness about those suffering from this disease,” said Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. General President Willis L. Lonzer, III, Ph.D.
Alpha Phi Alpha, with its rich history of service and leadership in the African American community, has long recognized and fought for the importance of nurturing partnerships that create meaningful opportunities for community engagement.
“This partnership not only aligns with our overall mission, but specifically our Brother’s Keeper Fraternity-Wide Program, which aims to advocate and improve the quality of life for our senior Brothers, their spouses, and widows as well as other vulnerable community members,” Willis said.
Under the partnership, the fraternity will connect local chapters of each organization for education, engagement and volunteer opportunities. The fraternity will also share the latest Alzheimer’s and dementia research and data and its impact on our communities.
“The Alzheimer’s Association is proud to partner with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to address health disparities and health inequities, particularly as it relates to Alzheimer’s and other dementia,” said Dr. Carl V. Hill, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Alzheimer’s Association.
“Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has been a trusted, valuable supporter of our mission for several years. This new partnership will enable us to reach even more Black and African American families with disease information and our care and support resources to help families affected by Alzheimer’s and all other dementia.”
Yarissa Reyes, director of diversity, equity and inclusion engagement at Alzheimer’s Association, talked about how the idea with this partnership is to take information that’s at the national leadership level and bring it down to the local communities.
“It’s super important to reach the Black and Brown communities because they’re more likely to develop the disease and less likely to have the resources and support that they need,” she said. “With that being said, my role is to go out and meet people where they are and bring the resources to them.”
Unforgettable is a stage play created by award-winning playwright Garrett Davis that tells the story of a family dealing with changes in the matriarch of the family. According to Reyes, the Alzheimer’s Association was able to leverage their partnership with the fraternity to bring more information about the disease to the community with an event surrounding this movie.
“At the showing of Unforgettable, a play that talks a little bit about the stigma around the disease, we held an event the night before the play, and it was just a fun event to get the community together,” Reyes said.
“A lot of the information that comes out [is] very heavy science and Alzheimer’s is a very complex disease, so through the partnership, we’re able to do things like this, like really get into the community.”
Reyes talked about how “being able to use the arts” and partnering with an organization such as the fraternity can bring awareness and information to the community in a way that’s easy to understand.
“When they leave, they leave with more information, local contacts, resources and support, so the fraternity giving us this opportunity to reach their members like this opens the door for people who may not otherwise reach out for support,” Reyes said.
At the national level, the Alzheimer’s Association has additional partnerships with Divine Nine fraternities and sororities including Omega Psi Phi, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
“We need to bring the resources to the communities that may not otherwise know where to start, so I think, in particular, working with the Divine Nine and other like-minded civic organizations, including partnerships with the Links Incorporated, 100 Black Men, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Hispanic Council on Aging and more. We have these partnerships with strategic groups that can open doors in communities that we may not otherwise be able to reach about the impact of Alzheimer’s in the Black community in particular,” she said.