National multi-stakeholder initiative to facilitate cognitive impairment detection and earlier dementia diagnosis

Based on current estimates, in 2014 between 6.5 and 8.7 million Americans lived with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia (ADRD). Due primarily to the aging of the U.S. population, the prevalence of ADRD is projected to triple by midcentury. Increased detection of cognitive impairment is an essential first step toward earlier diagnosis of ADRD. Without a diagnosis, affected people and families are unlikely to benefit from post-diagnostic care via community-based educational, support, and skill-building resources designed to foster improved health-related outcomes and well-being. Yet ample evidence suggests that cognitive impairment is severely under-detected by health care providers, especially in the primary care setting.

 

In order to help improve cognitive impairment detection in the primary care setting and ultimately link those affected by ADRD with services and support, in 2013 the Gerontological Society of America launched the Workgroup on Cognitive Impairment Detection and Earlier Diagnosis. This Workgroup, including stakeholders from federal agencies, national professional societies, and national advocacy organizations, released its report and recommendations in January 2015. The springboard for national adoption of the Workgroup’s recommendations is the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV), established by the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

 

This presentation will provide an overview of the Workgroup’s report recommendations, explain progress toward convening a national stakeholder Summit to help implement recommendations, discuss how to incorporate evidence-based cognitive impairment detection tools and algorithms into electronic medical records, and draw connections between cognitive impairment detection, earlier diagnosis of dementia, and access to post-diagnostic services for people and families affected by ADRD.