§ 2004-A — Coordinating council for services related to Alzheimer's disease and other dementia

§ 2004-a. Coordinating council for services related to Alzheimer's\ndisease and other dementia. 1. There is hereby created in the department\nof health a coordinating council for services related to Alzheimer's\ndisease and other dementia, to facilitate interagency planning and\npolicy, review specific agency initiatives for their impact on services\nrelated to the care of persons with dementia and their families, and\nprovide a continuing forum for concerns and discussion related to the\nformulation of a comprehensive state policy relating to Alzheimer's\ndisease and services for persons with incurable dementia.\n 2. The council shall be comprised of twenty-one members as follows:\nthe commissioner of health, the director of the state office for the\naging, the commissioner of children and family services, the\ncommissioner of education, the commissioner of mental health and the\ncommissioner of the office for people with developmental disabilities\nwho shall serve ex officio and who may designate representatives to act\non their behalf. The governor shall appoint seven other members with\nexpertise in Alzheimer's disease, other dementia or elder care issues,\nat least two of whom shall represent not-for-profit corporations whose\nprimary purpose is to provide access to experts in the care of persons\nwith Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, that are part of a\nstatewide network of not-for-profit corporations established\nspecifically to respond at the local and regional level to the needs of\nthis population and that provide family intervention services related to\nAlzheimer's disease in order to postpone or prevent nursing home\nplacements of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia.\nEight members shall be appointed by the governor on the recommendation\nof the legislative leaders as follows: the temporary president of the\nsenate and the speaker of the assembly shall each recommend three\nmembers to the council. One of the three members recommended by the\ntemporary president and one of the three members recommended by the\nspeaker shall be a clinical or research expert in the field of dementia\nand one of the three members appointed by each shall be a family member\nor caregiver of a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other\ndementia. One member shall be appointed on the recommendation of the\nminority leader of the senate and one member shall be appointed on the\nrecommendation of the minority leader of the assembly. The commissioner\nof health and the director of the office for the aging shall serve, ex\nofficio, as co-chairs of the council. Administrative duties shall be the\nresponsibility of the department. The members of the council shall\nreceive no compensation for their services.\n 3. Within one year after the effective date of this section, the\ncouncil shall establish community forums to gain input from consumers,\nproviders, key researchers in the field and other interested parties to\nprovide input and direction on developing a New York state plan for the\nidentification and treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the community. A\ncommunity forum shall be established in each of the following regions of\nthe state: Long Island, New York city, Northern Metropolitan New York,\nNortheastern New York, Utica area, Central New York, Rochester area and\nWestern New York. Such state plan shall include but not be limited to\nidentifying best practices in working with persons with Alzheimer's\ndisease, best interventions for caregivers to help reduce caregiver\nburnout, best approaches to training doctors, nurses and other medical\nand non-medical professionals and paraprofessionals to identify\nAlzheimer's disease, a community assessment of strengths and gaps in\ncommunity support services, ways in which to coordinate services among\nvarious systems, different financing approaches to pay for community\nsupport services and any other recommendations.\n 4. (a) The council shall meet quarterly or more frequently if its\nbusiness shall require. The community forums in the first year of\nimplementation count as a formal meeting of the council. The members of\nthe council shall receive no compensation but shall be reimbursed for\ntravel and other expenses actually and necessarily incurred in the\nperformance of their duties. The council shall provide reports to the\ngovernor and the legislature on or before June thirtieth, two thousand\nnine and by June thirtieth of every other year thereafter. Such reports\nshall include recommendations for state policy relating to dementia and\na review of services initiated and coordinated among public and private\nagencies to meet the needs of persons with Alzheimer's disease and other\ndementia and their families.\n (b) The council shall additionally review and report upon the use of\nclinically recognized, scientifically based, cognitive impairment\nscreening tools used to identify signs of and individuals at-risk for\ncognitive impairment, including Alzheimer's disease or other dementias,\nin all settings of the health continuum. Such tools shall include but\nnot be limited to tools approved and/or recognized by the Joint\nCommission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Agency\nfor Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicare and\nMedicaid Services (CMS), and others as determined by the council which\nare used by health care providers, across all settings of the health\ncontinuum. The council shall also review and report on best practices of\nproviders concerning early identification of at-risk individuals and\nreferral practices, the range of interventions and services available\nfor the cognitively impaired, and shall report its assessment of the\nneed and presence of such tools and practices in each sector of the\nhealth continuum. The council shall further include in its reports any\nfindings concerning potential gaps of identification and intervention\nfor the cognitively impaired, the need for public education about\ncognitive impairment, and recommendations to address that education\nneed.\n 5. The department shall serve as the focal point to develop\ncomprehensive coordinated responses of the various state agencies with\nregard to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia and thus help to\nassure timely and appropriate responses to issues and problems. The\ndepartment shall collaborate with the state office for the aging on\nissues related to nonmedical support services for individuals with\nAlzheimer's disease and other dementia and their caregivers. The\ndepartment shall collaborate with other appropriate state agencies to\nestablish a simplified coordinated assessment procedure for obtaining\nneeded services for persons with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia.\n 6. The department, in consultation with the council, shall utilize\ndata and information compiled and maintained pursuant to this article to\ncoordinate state funded research efforts to ensure the most efficient\nuse of funds available for this purpose.\n