Social & Public Policy of Alzheimer's Disease in the United States

Robert H. Blank, PhD, (University of Maryland) is an adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and a research scholar at New College Florida. He has been a frequent guest professor at Aarhus University in Denmark and at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. His previous academic positions include Chair of Public Policy at Brunel University in West London, Professor and Associate Director of the Program for Biosocial Research at Northern Illinois University, and Chair of Political Science at the University of Idaho. He has held residential fellowships at Vanderbilt University, Stanford University, Indiana University and the Medical University of South Carolina, and Fulbright Lectureships in Taiwan (1976-77 and 2007) and New Zealand (1984). He has taught, lectured and written widely in the areas of comparative health policy, medical technology assessment, genetic and reproductive policy, and neuroscience policy. Among themany books he has written are Rationing Medicine, Regulating Reproduction, Brain Policy, The Price of Life, Biology and Political Science, Comparative Health Policy, 1st -5th eds., End of Life Decision Making: A Comparative Study, Condition Critical, Governing Home Care, Intervention in the Brain: Politics and Policy, and Cognitive Enhancement. He was co-editor of The Palgrave International Handbook of Healthcare Policy and Governance.

• 1. Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias: An Introduction.- 2. Public Policy Context: Funding and Policy Initiatives.- 3. The Alzheimer’s Marketplace.- 4. Caregivers, Long Term Care and Social Health.- 5. Public Health Approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease.- 6. End-of-Life Decision Making for Alzheimer’s Disease across Cultures.- 7. Alzheimer’s Policy: Future Directions.