New dementia care study
Posted Oct 27, 2010 04:41:10 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Doctors across Canada and the US are paying attention to a Kitchener clinic and its work in dementia.
The prestigious Journal of the American Geriatric Society is publishing a study conducted by Dr. Linda Lee, the Director of the Centre for Family Medicine Memory Clinic.
The study developed a method of offering people with memory difficulties helpful care and supports without heavy dependence on hard to come by specialists.
The three-year plus study worked with 113 patients with some form of memory disorder, and referrals to specialists were reduced from 100% to 8%.
Instead, the clinic team utilized social worker outreach, long-term care planning, coordination of home safety, community resource referrals, and periodic follow-up and monitoring.
Dr. Lee says if this model is adapted widely, it would greatly improve wait times in dementia cases, and improve efficiency and reduce costs with specialists.
