HHS Unveils 2026 Update to National Plan on Alzheimer's: Four Goals Centered on Prevention and Early Detection
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on October 22 announced the 2026 Update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, setting Department-wide actions to guide coordinated federal action on dementia risk reduction, research and innovation, care, and support for people living with dementia and their families. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the announcement at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Kennedy said millions of American families have seen the devastating toll of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and that HHS is shifting the national strategy toward prevention, earlier detection, and faster development of better diagnostics and treatments, giving patients and families stronger support at every stage of the disease.
The updated plan puts greater emphasis on reducing dementia risk across the lifespan and translating scientific discoveries into better prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. It also formally recognizes related dementias in the plan's title, reflecting public input and the shared challenges patients and families face across different forms of dementia.
The plan replaces its six historical goals with four goals that follow the course of brain health and dementia across the lifespan: promote dementia risk reduction across the lifespan; accelerate discovery and innovation to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; advance high-value dementia care across the care journey; and strengthen evidence-based services and supports for people living with dementia and their families, including caregiver support, long-term services, home and community-based services, respite, education, safety, and planning.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the human and financial costs of Alzheimer's and dementia care are growing at unacceptable rates, and that the updated national plan addresses both, through initiatives that ease the burden on caregivers and expand access to lifestyle medicine interventions that help slow cognitive decline.
HHS said it is advancing new and ongoing initiatives across 10 agencies to turn the plan's priorities into action. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today launched an Alzheimer's Prevention Accelerator to advance the development of new approaches to prevention. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced a collective investment of up to $48.8 million in projects focused on earlier detection and intervention, joining existing ARPA-H efforts on Alzheimer's disease totaling up to $155.3 million. The Administration for Community Living will expand brain health resources and training for elder justice professionals. Other initiatives will expand dementia training and screening in health centers, develop behavioral health and crisis response resources for older adults experiencing cognitive decline, study diagnostic delays and the economic burden of dementia, and test a lifestyle intervention for beneficiaries with mild cognitive impairment.
HHS said the 2026 Update highlights major federal accomplishments and priority activities planned for 2027, and that over the next year it will measure progress toward each goal and report on the National Plan's impacts in the 2027 Update.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）总部 Hubert H. Humphrey Building。照片：Carol M. Highsmith，美国国会图书馆藏品，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
