The Healthy Brain Initiative: A National Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health

The Alzheimer’s Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Healthy Aging Program have developed the second in a series of road maps to advance cognitive health as a vital, integral component of public health. The Healthy Brain Initiative: The Public Health Road Map for State and National Partnerships, 2013–2018 [PDF–2.5 M], outlines how state and local public health agencies and their partners can promote cognitive functioning, address cognitive impairment for individuals living in the community, and help meet the needs of care partners.

Action items are categorized into four traditional domains of public health: monitor and evaluate, educate and empower the nation, develop policy and mobilize partnerships, and assure a competent workforce. Public health agencies and private, non-profit, and governmental partners at the national, state, and local levels are encouraged to work together on the actions that best fit their missions, needs, interests, and capabilities.