ABSTRACT
The United States Census Bureau predicts that the percentage of people over the age of 65 will increase from approximately 11% of the population in 2000 to nearly 23% of the population by 2050 (US Census Bureau). Along with this increase comes an expected inflation in the prevalence of age-related diseases. For example, the number of persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is expected to increase from approximately 5.1 million in 2010 to nearly 13.5 million by 2050 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2010). An increase in the prevalence of AD will be accompanied by elevated costs to treat and care for people with the disease. These costs are estimated to reach US$172 billion in 2010 and to increase to nearly US$1.078 trillion by 2050 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2010).
