A Program of Collaborative Care for Alzheimer Disease

The specific aim of this proposal is to conduct a four-year randomized controlled clinical trial to test the efficacy of an integrated program of collaborative care as compared to usual care in improving the process and outcomes of care for older adults with dementia in a primary care setting. The program involves three primary components: (1) A comprehensive screening and diagnosis program in which all older adults aged 65 and older from Wishard's Community Health Centers will be screened for dementia. Patients with evidence of dementia will receive further evaluation to determine an explicit diagnosis. Roudebush VA Medical Center patients aged 65 and older with a diagnosis of dementia will receive further evaluation to determine an explicit diagnosis. (2) A multidisciplinary team approach to care for patients with dementia. This care will be coordinated through a geriatric nurse practitioner or a clinical nurse specialist working in the primary care clinic. The team includes primary care and specialist physicians, psychologist, other health care workers, and relevant social service agencies working to adhere to recommended standards of care for primary care patients with dementia. (3) A proactive longitudinal tracking program in which objective measures of process and outcomes of care are fed back to the collaborative care team so that appropriate changes in the course of therapy can be undertaken.

Although authoritative guidelines for the care of patients with Alzheimer Disease and related disorders have been published, there are no clinical trials that test the impact of close adherence to these guidelines on the outcomes of care for a group of vulnerable older adults in an urban primary care setting. We are hypothesizing that patients with dementia and their caregivers who are exposed to this program will: (1) be more likely to receive the emerging standard of care for dementia, including an explicit diagnosis of dementia and an appropriate level of evaluation, education, and management; (2) be less impaired by psychopathology and behavior disturbances; (3) be less functionally impaired at 1-year and 2-year follow-up.