Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America: A Decadal Survey of the Behavioral and Social Sciences

The National Institute on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conduct a consensus study to produce a decadal survey of research in the social and behavioral sciences with the potential to mitigate the negative impacts of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and identify a research agenda for the coming decade. This report is the culmination of that effort and includes the consensus committee’s ten-year research priorities. The research agenda includes specific research directions for assessing family caregivers’ experiences and capacity as well as for research on interventions to support family caregivers with a focus on three key issues: Care Transitions, Use of Assistive Technology, and Approaches for Addressing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms.