I was about to post this, but Zibby beat me to it. I am not agreeing nor disagreeing with the author. Here is the article, and you can decide for yourself what you think of his ideas:

Dear Mr. President,
Please appoint a champion of non-pharmacological Alzheimer's treatment to the National Advisory Panel on Alzheimer's that you recently established pursuant to the National Alzheimer's Project Act.

Current medications can slow the advance of Alzheimer's disease in some people, but offer no hope of a cure for the estimated 5.5 million people with Alzheimer's or other dementias in the U.S. today, for the many millions more who will soon receive an early diagnosis of dementia, or for the even greater number of people who love and care for them.

Mr. President, like most Americans, you probably know and love someone with dementia and you undoubtedly want a cure to be found for this horrible disease. But do you know that if a drug were discovered today it will not improve the lives of those with dementia now or of those who will soon develop it?
Drug development for dementia has hit a brick wall. The National Institutes of Health Consensus report states: "Currently, no evidence of even moderate scientific quality exists to support the association of any modifiable factor (such as nutritional supplements, herbal preparations, dietary factors, prescription or nonprescription drugs, social or economic factors, medical conditions, toxins, or environmental exposures) with reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease."

The new national policy initiative for early diagnosis will do nothing for the millions of Americans with dementia and those who love them -- unless we can give them a life worth living. The hope to diagnose people earlier, long before there are any symptoms is just that -- a hope -- for our children and their children, but not for anyone with Alzheimer's today. Drugs can't give people with dementia a life worth living. Non-pharmacological interventions can!

The New York Times published an article several months ago about a program at a small nursing home in Arizona that amazingly allows people with dementia freedom to do what gives them pleasure -- even eat chocolate! Readers overwhelmingly responded with joy that in this one case rather than being locked up, stigmatized, and denied their human rights, residents with dementia were treated like people.

We as a society need to make this a reality for all elders, even those who happen to be living with dementia, giving all of them the opportunity to make decisions and to have a dignified and fulfilling life. We as a society need to provide all those with Alzheimer's a life worth living. Drugs alone can't do that. Non-pharmacological approaches can.

New approaches to giving people with dementia access to their communities are emerging. Movie theaters and museums, for example, are opening their doors and providing special programs for people with even advanced Alzheimer's disease. New books are being published about how to engage people with dementia in lives they find satisfying, offering realistic hope for people living with Alzheimer's.

People from all walks of life and professions are crying out: Please do not condemn people already living with Alzheimer's to a life locked up at home or in an assisted living program or in a nursing home. Please give them the access to society they deserve -- give them their human rights -- by investing in non-pharmacological approaches and not just drugs.

I recently circulated a petition to leaders in the field requesting that the National Advisory Panel include an expert who will champion non-pharmacological treatments for dementia. I want that this paradigm be considered seriously by the panel, that the panel promote evidence-based non-pharmacological practice, that research methodologies and methods be included that can capture the effects of these interventions on people with dementia, and that the human rights of both those living with dementia and caregivers be respected. The petition argues that the ethical dilemma of early diagnosis without any medical solution can be resolved through active application of the non-pharmacological approach.

The response was overwhelming in terms of numbers and professional positions of signers.

Let me be clear that we do not oppose research to find drugs that will cure Alzheimer's and other dementias. On the contrary, we hope that new discoveries will be made in time to help our children and our children's children. Cont.

In the history of disease whenever theere is no cure the imputus is shifted to do "something". Anything at all that might improve(?) the lives of the afflicted.

The author's reference to "nonpharmacological treatments" in interesting in light of his admission of no cure. By definition treatments are a process to a cure. His "nonpharmacological treatments" seem more like comfort measures to me.

Treat dementia people better(?) Sure who would not want that? Keep dementia people "active" and not 'lock them away' ? Everyone here would endorse that!

HOWEVER. . . .I think the author forgot something that we all know If you see one alzheimers patient you have seen one alzheimers patient.
Their needs, abilites and behaviors are SOooooo different that no single nonpharmacological intervention will work with even half of the people with dementia.

Then comes the $64 billion dollar question. Who would pay for all this?
Sadly, locking dementia people in a facility is cheap. Giving them craft classes and taking them to museums costs money. Who is going to pay. Especially in this economy?

Do petitions work? Do direct pleas to representitives (still) work?
I donno! Seeing recent political decisions I dont know how well our whole political process is working anymore.