Agencies
Services
Alzheimer's Disease Programs and Services
Regional Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Centers
Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Centers, funded by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, in Illinois are:
- Northwestern Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Center for Northern Illinois, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Center for Northern Illinois, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
- Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Springfield
Alzheimer Disease Research Fund
The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund (ADRF) was supported by Illinois taxpayers’ contributions through annual state income tax return. This fund, was in existence from 1985-2020. Grant awards were used to investigate the biomedical, technical or psychosocial study pertaining to Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Topics included, but are not limited to: epidemiology, etiology, pathology, diagnosis, care, treatment, evaluation, cure, social or economic impacts, gerontology, nursing, psychology, respite care, in-home care, long-term care, health care finance and psychosocial issues. Grant awards were available only to Illinois researchers.
Alzheimer Disease Assistance Act
The Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Act (410 ILCS 405) required that by January 1, 1987, and every three years thereafter, the Illinois Department of Public Health (Department) prepare an Illinois Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Plan in consultation with the Illinois Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Committee (ADAC) to guide research, diagnosis, referral and treatment services within each service area described by the Department; provide oversight of three Regional Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Centers (AD Centers), including their primary provider sites (PPS); and coordinate Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund (ADRF) grants.
Alzheimer Disease Advisory Committee
The Alzheimer's Disease Advisory Committee (ADAC) was established through the Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Act and consists of 17 voting members and five nonvoting members appointed by the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. The directors of the following state agencies, or their designees, serve as nonvoting members: Department on Aging, Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Department of Public Health, Department of Human Services and Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.
The ADAC reviews programs and services provided by state agencies directed toward persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and, by consensus, recommend changes to improve the state's response. ADAC’s recommendations are reflected throughout this state plan.
A regional Alzheimer's disease assistance center (ADA center) is considered the top tier of dementia care providing diagnostic evaluation, treatment, referral and research. An ADA center must be a postsecondary higher educational institution having a medical school affiliated with a medical center and having a National Institutes of Health and National Institutes on Aging sponsored Alzheimer's Disease Core Center. Any regional ADA center that previously was designated as having a National Alzheimer's Disease Core Center but no longer carries such designation can continue to serve as a regional ADA center. ADA centers are staffed by a network of physicians, medical specialists, social workers, educational specialists and research scientists with expertise in dementia care and research.