Dementia Practice Guidelines Support Chronic Care Networks for Alzheimer's Disease Model

August 21

Three articles presenting practice guidelines for dementia were published recently in the journal Neurology. The guidelines were developed by expert panels and address early detection, diagnosis, and management. With respect to early detection, the expert panel recommends against using mental status tests, such as the MMSE, to identify people with dementia in general populations. Instead, it advises that people who are at risk, that is, those who complain of memory problems or are perceived to have a memory problem by a family member or clinician, should be evaluated and then followed clinically if the evaluation indicates a memory impairment. These recommendations clearly support the Chronic Care Networks for Alzheimer¹s Disease (CCN/AD) model. For diagnosis, the expert panel recommends the use of non-contrast CT or MR scans for all patients; the CCN/AD model recommends this procedure unless there is a good reason for not doing it. Among its recommendations for management are the use of education and support programs for family caregivers, a core component of CCN/AD, and training for staff of long-term care facilities.

The three articles appear in the May 2001 issue of Neurology 56:1133­66. They can be obtained on the American Academy of Neurology Web site at www.aan.com. From the home page, click on Dementia Resources in the Web Highlights box.