03/09/2026
Dr. Sullivan's recent letter to the editor in The Pilot Newspaper and our local community...
A recent Pilot article reported our population will grow more slowly than projected. Don’t be fooled. Slower growth doesn’t mean fewer needs. It means we’re getting older, faster.
Nearly one in four residents is over 65. The fastest-growing group, adults over 85, is projected to nearly double in two decades, and we’ll have fewer working-age adults to care for them.
Age is the number one risk factor for dementia. In Moore County, if you are diagnosed with cancer or heart disease, you can rest assured you will receive first-class care. Can we say the same for dementia?
Moore County markets itself as one of the best places to retire. But have we built the infrastructure that promise requires? Caregiving consumes families quietly. Dementia care burns out professionals without systemic support. When both are stretched thin, communities absorb the fallout in emergency rooms, in isolation, in preventable crises.
We are not starting from nothing. The Reid Healthcare Transformation Fellowship, sponsored by the Foundation of FirstHealth, was pivotal in advancing this cause. The Engaged Brains Project trained over 3,000 neighbors to see the person, not the diagnosis, in brain change. The Village Council’s Senior Advisory Council, advanced by Councilman Kevin Fitzpatrick, signals that leadership recognizes aging as a defining issue. But where do we go from here?
In the coming months, I will announce a major initiative to strengthen support for older adults with brain change, their care partners, and the workforce serving them. The demographic trends are not coming. They are here. If we welcome people here to age, we owe them a community prepared to stand with them when things get hard. I hope you will join me.
Karen Sullivan,
PhD, ABPP
Pinehurst, NC
