Improving Screening and Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

Target Audience

The target audience for this educational initiative is primary care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) and neurologists, particularly community neurologists.

Program Overview

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, with growing prevalence as the United States population ages. In older adults, the differences between normal age-related cognitive changes and the cognitive changes of Alzheimer’s dementia can be subtle; as such, the diagnosis of early AD requires clinicians to accurately assess and track patient cognition, function, and behavior over time through the effective use of validated assessment tools. However, despite modern clinical advancements evolving our understanding of AD, many patients with AD are either misdiagnosed or diagnosed late in the course of disease, and as a result may not be recognized for inclusion in ongoing clinical trials. This immersive activity will challenge your clinical decision-making and assessment skills specific to AD, as you are asked to rate the quality of care delivered and identify suboptimal care or improvement strategies in multiple fully described patient-provider interactions. This activity will demonstrate clear pathways and best clinical practices for the prompt screening and diagnosis of early AD.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:

DIFFERENTIATE between normal aging and cognitive, functional, and behavioral domain changes that occur during the early stages of AD/
DESCRIBE the strengths and limitations of assessment tools used in clinical practice and clinical research settings for the screening and diagnosis of early AD.
EMPLOY best clinical practices for the screening and diagnosis of early AD, including the use of validated clinical assessment tools