Online pathways for dementia care

Dementia is one of the fastest growing diseases in Australia. General practitioners (GPs) are at the forefront of dementia diagnosis and management. However, the disease is complex and this can prevent timely diagnosis. A recent initiative in the Grampians region, Victoria, is addressing some of these challenges through a comprehensive, intuitive, online tool.

The aim of this article is to describe the process of developing and reasons for implementing the Dementia Pathways Tool, in the Grampians region, Victoria.

Designed in collaboration with GPs and practice nurses, the Dementia Pathways Tool promotes awareness of the first signs of dementia. It offers an informed approach to diagnosis, referral and ongoing management of people with the symptoms of dementia. This Tool provides practitioners - irrespective of their practice location - with access to an intuitive, online web-based repository of information. The Tool is publicly available and therefore accessible to all practitioners and the general public. Initial indications from statistics of the website are positive, but an evaluation will help inform the potential for broader applications of this Tool in the future.