Primary Care-Based Memory Clinics: Expanding Capacity for Dementia Care

Area of Science:

• Geriatrics
• Primary Care Medicine
• Dementia Care

Background:

• Dementia care capacity is limited at the primary care level.
• Interprofessional memory clinics offer a novel approach to team-based case management.
• Ontario implemented 15 primary-care-based memory clinics to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of primary-care-based interprofessional memory clinics.
• To assess patient, caregiver, and referring physician satisfaction with the new model.
• To determine the impact on dementia care delivery and resource utilization.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of 15 interprofessional memory clinics in primary care settings.
• Tracking of patient referrals and assessments.
• Chart audits by geriatricians, interviews with clinic staff, and satisfaction surveys with patients, caregivers, and referring physicians.

Main Results:

• 582 patients were assessed across all clinics.
• 8.9% of patients were referred to a specialist.
• High satisfaction reported by patients, caregivers, and referring physicians.
• Geriatrician chart audits showed strong agreement on diagnosis and management.
• Referring physicians reported increased capacity for dementia management.

Conclusions:

• The primary-care memory clinic model is acceptable, feasible, and preliminarily effective.
• The model provides timely, high-quality, collaborative dementia care.
• It enhances health service utilization through efficient use of specialist resources.
• Specially trained family physicians can lead these clinics effectively.