Launch: Dementia Pathways Tool

21 August 2013

An intuitive, online pathway designed to assist GPs, practice nurses and allied health professionals in the Grampians region with early intervention, diagnosis and ongoing management of patients with dementia was launched at Ballarat Health Services on 13 August 2013.

This project, which has been supported by the Department of Health (Grampians region) and Grampians Medicare Local, has culminated in the development of online dementia pathways tool. The technical and online components of the tool were developed by the University of Ballarat’s Centre for eCommerce and Communications.

The dementia pathways project was led by regional dementia project officer Carolyn Gargiulo who collaborated widely with key stakeholders across the Grampians region (including GPs, GP advisors and nurses), to develop the content and structure for the pathways. Substantial advice on the content for the pathways tool was also provided by Associate Professor Mark Yates, Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine at Ballarat Health Services.

This collaborative project and the resultant dementia pathways provide a valuable tool to support dementia care for health professionals in the Grampians that promotes:

positive awareness of the first signs and symptoms of dementia in the community
assessment and investigation of suspected dementia
the importance of linking people with dementia and their carers to community services throughout each of the management stages
the importance of commencing and finalising advance care plans early.

The pathways tool was officially launched by Associate Prof Mark Yates and Grampians Medicare Local CEO Andrew McPherson and was widely attended by General Practitioners and nurse managers and allied health workers.

The dementia pathways can be accessed via: http://www.grampiansml.com.au/dpp

For further information about the dementia pathways project and tool please contact Ms Carolyn Garguilo: Carolyn.Gargiulo@health.vic.gov.au

For information about CeCC, please contact Dr Helen Thompson: h.thompson@ballarat.edu.au