Medical Management of Dementia
While interdisciplinary clinicians need to be knowledgeable and aware of the current medical management regimes of dementia, many published guidelines are targeted specifically for physicians.
The scope of practice for physicians and other disciplines have a degree of overlap (for example, the education and psychological support of caregivers1), however many of these guideline recommendations are outside the scope of practice for other professionals (e.g., advanced assessment, diagnosis and pharmaceutical management).
The IH Phased Dementia Pathway refers to current practices of medical management for dementia, but attempts have been made not focus in-depth on the details of exclusive medical care. Rather the Phased Pathway targets those clinical issues that have been identified as problematic (clinical “pinch-points”) by persons with dementia, their caregivers, and various clinician groups.
The Phased Pathway recommendations are designed for interdisciplinary practices to be complementary and supportive to the current medical guidelines.
- Canadian National Consensus Guidelines for Dementia
In 1998, a panel of Canadian medical dementia experts produced a consensus document that became the accepted physician’s guide for dementia management in Canada.
This ground breaking document was revised and re-released in 2007 as the 3rd Canadian Consensus Conference Guidelines on Dementia. Nurses, social workers, occupational and physiotherapists, mental health clinicians, pharmacists and other associated professional staff are encouraged to be aware of these hallmark Canadian medical recommendations, and to provide direct client care that supports and augments the identified medical goals.
- BC Provincial Guidelines
The British Columbia Ministry of Health and the B.C. Medical Association jointly released the B.C. Dementia Guidelines for family physicians on July 15th, 2007.
These guidelines were created through the Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee (GPAC) and are available in both full or summary formats, and also include a Patient Advisory sheet.
References
1 Cohen CA, Pringle D, Leduc L. (2001). Dementia Caregiving: The role of the primary care physician. Can J Neurol Sci. 28, Suppl 1:S72-76.
2 Patterson, CJS; Gauthier, S; Bergman, H; Cohen, CA; Feightner, JW; Feldman, H; Hogan, DB. June 15, 1999. The Recognition, Assessment and Management of Dementing Disorders: Conclusions from the Canadian Consensus Conference on Dementia. CMAJ 160(12 supp):s1-s15.