Jason Karlawish is a physician and writer.
He researches and writes about issues at the intersections of bioethics, aging, and the neurosciences. He is the author of The Problem of Alzheimer’s: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It and the novel Open Wound: The Tragic Obsession of Dr. William Beaumont. His essays have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, The Hill, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, STAT, and The Washington Post. His STAT column Neurotransmissions examines the vast problem of dementia. A Professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, he is co-Director of the Penn Memory Center, where he cares for patients, and executive producer of the Age of Aging, a podcast that examines how to live well with an aging brain. He lives in Philadelphia.
Dementia should be a campaign issue —not an insult
Dementia is a big problem Americans want to solve together
IHot summer days are fading fast, but the midterm election season is heating up. In the race up to Nov. 3, among the top issues are the economy, health care, and immigration. All three are deeply connected to another issue that needs attention: dementia.
As many as 7.1 million Americans are living with dementia, and 12 million friends and family performing the work of caregiving. Their mental anguish, out-of-pocket expenses, the time caregivers devote to their work, the wages lost from forgone work — all create spectacular costs for America’s families. In the coming years, as Americans age, this anguish and costs will only grow.
Dementia is clearly a big problem, and yet, sadly, our politicians — both Democrats and Republicans —talk about it not like adults, but like schoolyard bullies. They use the word as a vicious rhetorical cudgel to mock and deride an opponent’s mental fitness. This was especially true in 2024, when politicians accused opponents of having dementia. Sadly, the name-calling continues this midterm election.
Americans need to have a responsible conversation about dementia, and our politicians could inspire this. Over the past few weeks, I spoke with leaders at three national organizations dedicated to tackling dementia. I asked each: What are the harms of the way politicians talk about it? What should they say instead? What are concrete, real-world solutions?….
The ACED tool
Why have thousands of psychologists, physicians, caregivers and social workers from all over the world requested a copy of the ACED? Because they know that to promote the well-being and dignity of a person with marginal capacity, the person needs an assessment of the capacity for everyday decisionmaking.