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It’s called the “silver tsunami”: a surge of Baby Boomers entering the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid systems. For the Greater Iowa chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, that means “a tidal wave of people coming in the future who could potentially have Alzheimer’s disease,” said Carol Sipfle, executive director of the organization.

With more than 65,000 Iowans currently living with the disease, and more than 5 million people living with it nationwide, Sipfle is preparing for a surge of potential Alzheimer’s patients.

“Obviously the numbers are growing and will grow as the Baby Boomer generation gets older and gets to that age when they are more likely to get Alzheimer’s,” she said. “So it’s actually predicted that by the year 2030, there will be 16 million people in the country with Alzheimer’s.”

In response, the Iowa chapter has positioned itself parallel to the national organization’s focus on preventive care and public policy. Sipfle said the chapter takes public policy “as a serious part of our mission” and that it has lobbied the Legislature for increased research funding and laws that make life easier for individuals living with Alzheimer’s.

“We need to be active, and we need to become more active,” she said. “We want this disease to go away.”

Currently, the Greater Iowa chapter covers 58 counties in Iowa and five counties in Illinois, with its headquarters located in West Des Moines. It has three offices in the state and one office in Omaha that covers Southwest Iowa. Its most recent branch office opened in Fort Dodge, and Sipfle said it is currently in the process of opening an office in Creston.

“When you get into the outlying areas of the state, people don’t want to come to Des Moines,” she said. “They don’t necessarily trust people from Des Moines. But if we have a local presence, we tend to do better.”

Sipfle said the organization recently planned its largest annual fund-raiser, the Memory Walk, which accounts for more than 50 percent of the chapter’s annual budget of $1.5 million. The walk takes place in 15 cities during the fall months and will occur in Des Moines on Saturday, Sept. 27, at Water Works Park at 9 a.m. For more information or to register for the walk, go to www.alz.org/greateriowa.