Abstract
BackgroundDementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia. Over half of patients with dementia are undiagnosed in primary care. This paper describes the development, implementation and initial evaluation of the first national continuing medical education program on the timely diagnosis and management of dementia in general practice in Australia.MethodsContinuing medical education workshops were developed and run in 16 urban and rural locations across Australia (12 were delivered as small group workshops, four as large groups), and via online modules. Two train-the-trainer workshops were held. The target audience was general practitioners, however, international medical graduates, GP registrars, other doctors, primary care nurses and other health professionals were also welcome. Self-complete questionnaires were used for the evaluation.ResultsOf 1236 people (GPs, other doctors, nurses and other health professionals) who participated in the program, 609 completed the full program (small group workshops (282), large group workshops (75), online modules (252)); and 627 elected to undertake one or more individual submodules (large group workshops (444), online program (183)). Of those who completed the full program as a small group workshop, 14 undertook the additional Train-the-trainer program. 76% of participants felt that their learning needs were entirely met and 78% felt the program was entirely relevant to their practice.ConclusionContinuing medical education programs are an effective method to deliver education to GPs. A combination of face-to-face and online delivery modes increases reach to primary care providers. Train-the-trainer sessions and online continuing medical education programs promote long-term delivery sustainability. Further research is required to determine the long-term knowledge translation effects of the program.
Highlights
Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia
The timely diagnosis of dementia forms the basis for effective management, offering consumers and their families the opportunity of treatment, support, and to plan for the future [4, 5], which can relieve the significant psychological distress that may be experienced by patients and their carers [6]
This paper describes the development, implementation and initial evaluation of the first Australian national Continuing medical education (CME) program to assist general practitioners and primary care nurses to better understand, diagnose and manage dementia and/or mild to moderate cognitive impairment, in primary care
Summary
Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia. Over half of patients with dementia are undiagnosed in primary care. GPs do not readily diagnose dementia during routine practice visits, and there is evidence that dementia is under-diagnosed in primary care, with an estimated 60% of cases remaining undiagnosed [8,9,10,11]. This results in missed opportunities to treat symptoms, reduced planning time and reduced access to community resources and support [12, 13]
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