The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #55454

Michelle Plauche, MA and Debra Cherry, PhD. Alzheimer's Association of Los Angeles, Riverside, & San Bernardino Counties, 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1700, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Despite recent advances, a recent Alzheimer’s Association survey revealed that a communications gap still exists between Alzheimer’s caregivers and their physicians. Historically, the quality of medical care for people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related disorders has been uneven. Physicians are not sufficiently knowledgeable about this class of diseases, and as a result, dementia is often misdiagnosed and managed improperly. Initial attempts to improve the quality of medical care for people with AD focused on creating physician practice standards, or guidelines. More recently, the need to expand guideline-based efforts to include consumer-directed strategies has become more obvious. The Alzheimer’s Health Education Initiative (AHEI) is a consumer-directed pilot project currently being implemented by the California Department of Health Services and Alzheimer’s Association chapters. Evidence-based guidelines were translated into an educational booklet containing vital information on diagnosis, treatment, and management of AD. A companion workshop was developed to teach consumers to communicate more effectively and to form productive partnerships with doctors to get the best care possible. Knowledgeable physicians and consumers are critical to assure that people with dementia will get better health care in the future. This session will provide an overview of research on the communications gap and present strategies to bridge the gap and achieve better quality dementia care through education. Data from the AHEI consumer education project will be presented, and discussion will be encouraged.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the communications gap between dementia health care consumers (patients & care partners) and physicians.
• Apply physician and consumer education strategies developed from research-based practice guidelines for dementia care.

Keywords: Dementia, Health Education

Related Web page: www.alzla.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Alzheimer's Association
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.