About Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute
The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute (WAI) is committed to helping people living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia, their caregivers, and the health professionals working to support them.
Mission: Advancing health care quality and access through research, education, clinical care and community engagement for all people impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.
Vision: A future free from Alzheimer’s disease.
Values: How we work together impacts the quality of our work. These core values guide our actions.
WAI Campus Partnerships and Statewide Outreach
In the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea to share knowledge, WAI collaborates with both rural communities and urban centers, the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), and various University of Wisconsin academic and research departments.
WAI receives core funding from the state of Wisconsin, research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and program funding from Bader Philanthropies.
The WAI is home to the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP), the largest family history study of Alzheimer’s disease in the world.
In 2016, WAI partnered with the Wisconsin ADRC to launch the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s (IEA). Through IEA, we are working together across the spectrum of Alzheimer’s disease – from research to community outreach to improved patient care – committed to developing the next breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease research, prevention and care.
WAI History and Impact
WAI was established in 1998 by a coalition of service providers, community-based organizations, educational institutions and advocates organized by the Wisconsin Bureau on Aging and Long-Term Care Resources and Bader Philanthropies. WAI received pioneering guidance and support under the leadership of our founding director Dr. Mark Sager.
In 2008, the WAI Regional Milwaukee Office was established with the goals of empowering the local community, improving access to quality care, and increasing African-American research participation by building culturally-tailored programs. The work of the WAI Milwaukee has built pioneering efforts in community engagement and inclusive, effective research programs. The Milwaukee Community Advisory Board is one of the oldest and most-established CAB’s of its kind in the nation.
Today, the WRAP study oversees research sites in three locations in Wisconsin: Madison, Milwaukee and La Crosse. WAI leads outreach and education programs throughout the state, and partners with the State of Wisconsin on innovative trainings for Dementia Care Specialists and other health care providers in each county. The WAI Memory Clinic Network is a state-wide, nationally recognized model of supporting development and clinical care to provide better access to dementia diagnosis and quality care.
In Wisconsin
Alzheimer’s by the numbers
There are more than 110,900 people living with Alzheimer’s disease in Wisconsin. That represents more than ten percent of the adults over age 65 in the state.
In Wisconsin, there are more than 205,000 caregivers providing unpaid care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. The lifetime risk for Alzheimer’s at age 45 is one in five for women and one in ten for men.
More than 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. The cost of caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is estimated to total $360 billion in 2024,
increasing to nearly $1 trillion by 2050. Dementia caregivers today are providing 20% more care than in 2009.
“In order to serve people in Wisconsin living with Alzheimer’s disease, we all need to come together to share our knowledge and be generous with information surrounding this disease. It’s the only way we will effectively serve our families, friends, neighbors and all of the citizens of the state.”