Dementia Pathways Tool

The Dementia Pathways Tool is a publicly accessible resource providing primary health care professionals and the community with a web-based repository containing information, tools and resources for the assessment, referral, and management of people with dementia. 

Dementia Pathways Tool

Background

Dementia is one of the fastest growing diseases in Australia, with prevalence rates expected to rise steadily over coming years ¹. At the forefront of dementia care is the primary health care workforce (general practitioners; practice nurses) who are providing essential support across the disease continuum, from early diagnosis to ongoing management. However, this disease is complex and often places significant demand on primary health care workers. 

An initiative in the Grampians region sought to address some of these challenges with the development of the intuitive, online Dementia Pathways Tool. Launched in 2013, the Dementia Pathways Tool offers a comprehensive yet intuitive web-based repository of dementia-related information, tools, service directories and resources which is publicly available. This enables community access to information about dementia that may be of relevance, including family and carer support, financial and legal issues, driving capabilities and powers of attorney.

The Tool was originally guided in its development by the Dementia Pathways Working group comprising representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services (Grampians) and Grampians Medicare Local. The content for the Dementia Pathways Tool was undertaken by Ms Carolyn Gargiulo, Grampians Region Department of Health and Human Services, as the lead organisation, in collaboration with Associate Professor Mark Yates consultant physician in geriatric medicine, from the Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service (CDAMS), Ballarat Health Services, and Deakin University.

In 2015, CeRDI collaborated with South East Melbourne Medicare Local to prepare a version of the Dementia Pathways Tool for its region. Advisory groups from the South Eastern Melbourne Medicare Local, including the Aged Care Advisory Group, contributed to the development of the South Eastern Melbourne Dementia Pathways Tool.

The Dementia Pathways Tool has since undergone several modifications, ensuring its content remains current and relevant, and added information is available to users of the tool.

Technical Features

Key features of the Dementia Pathways Tool include a split-screen with toggle menu for navigation. Access to relevant information occurs via eight key menu options:

• Awareness and recognition of significant symptoms;
• General Practitioner (GP) assessment and management;
• Practice nurse – assessment and care planning;
• Medicolegal issues;
• Medication;
• Ongoing management and care;
• Palliative and end-of-life care;
• Family support.

Menu items are accessed through a pathways ‘tree’ with branches to secondary menu items. Navigating the site is facilitated by the pathway with menu items providing a logical guide.

The Tool includes a comprehensive keyword search with expandable information layers offering a greater number of searchable options to source and retrieve content. The website is complemented by an interactive pathways map; a support tool and service directory with referral pathways.

Other features of the website include links to dementia-related resources and websites, access to dementia assessment tools for GPs and practice nurses, and links to the MBS items, applicable to the dementia diagnostic pathways.

[1] Dementia Statistics and Epidemiology, available at: Dementia Australia