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The Dementia Care Aware Toolkit

A senior patient of African decent sits with her female doctor as they discuss her recent brain scans. She is dressed casually and looking at the tablet with the scans up on it, as the doctor smiles to reassure her of the good news. The doctor is wearing blue scrubs, a white lab coat and has a tablet in her hands.

Early-stage AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild dementia due to AD, are often undiagnosed and those who are diagnosed are often told in the moderate or later stages of the condition.  Ultimately, more than half of people with dementia will never be diagnosed even though it affects over 10% of adults 65 and older.  

 Evidence suggests that the earlier we detect dementia, the more we can do. We can slow it down by intervening with brain health strategies, helping people plan for the future, and mitigating unwanted health and quality of life outcomes, such as caregiver stress and a person’s vulnerability to adverse events including driving accidents. Medications that may alter the course of certain diseases leading to dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease, are rapidly coming into medical practice.  And, most importantly, again and again, people living with dementia and their care partners say that they wish they had known earlier so they could have control over their life when living with this condition. 

One clear way to improve our care for people living with dementia is to screen and detect it earlier. However, screening for dementia in patients aged 65 and above is infrequent in primary care. Fewer than half of all primary care providers in California incorporate screening for dementia as a standard practice.   

Incorporating an annual cognitive screen such as the Dementia Care Aware cognitive health assessment is one way to address this gap.  This toolkit will also help you in the critical process of engaging local champions and decision-makers to demonstrate the value and relevance of including a dementia screening program and how to align it with organizational priorities (i.e., mission, vision, strategic goals).  

We have broken up the toolkit into 4 phases: Getting started, building capacity, implementing with a team, and sustaining and improving. 

You can interact with any phase of the toolkit on this page and select resources that work best for you and your team.  

The Dementia Care Aware Toolkit

A senior patient of African decent sits with her female doctor as they discuss her recent brain scans. She is dressed casually and looking at the tablet with the scans up on it, as the doctor smiles to reassure her of the good news. The doctor is wearing blue scrubs, a white lab coat and has a tablet in her hands.

Early-stage AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild dementia due to AD, are often undiagnosed and those who are diagnosed are often told in the moderate or later stages of the condition.  Ultimately, more than half of people with dementia will never be diagnosed even though it affects over 10% of adults 65 and older.  

 Evidence suggests that the earlier we detect dementia, the more we can do. We can slow it down by intervening with brain health strategies, helping people plan for the future, and mitigating unwanted health and quality of life outcomes, such as caregiver stress and a person’s vulnerability to adverse events including driving accidents. Medications that may alter the course of certain diseases leading to dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease, are rapidly coming into medical practice.  And, most importantly, again and again, people living with dementia and their care partners say that they wish they had known earlier so they could have control over their life when living with this condition. 

One clear way to improve our care for people living with dementia is to screen and detect it earlier. However, screening for dementia in patients aged 65 and above is infrequent in primary care. Fewer than half of all primary care providers in California incorporate screening for dementia as a standard practice.   

Incorporating an annual cognitive screen such as the Dementia Care Aware cognitive health assessment is one way to address this gap.  This toolkit will also help you in the critical process of engaging local champions and decision-makers to demonstrate the value and relevance of including a dementia screening program and how to align it with organizational priorities (i.e., mission, vision, strategic goals).  

We have broken up the toolkit into 4 phases: Getting started, building capacity, implementing with a team, and sustaining and improving. 

You can interact with any phase of the toolkit on this page and select resources that work best for you and your team.  

Have questions about dementia care? Call our warmline for clinicians today at 1-800-933-1789!

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