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Can an online educational program for physicians improve diagnosis of dementia in Chile?
Tomas Leon
Hospital del Salvador
Santiago, Chile
Background
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other dementia at early stages allows the best chance for treatment to alleviate symptoms, and it gives caregivers and individuals with dementia access to services and resources to minimize the burden of the disease. In low- and middle-income countries, diagnosis can be delayed due to deficiencies in healthcare infrastructure and other barriers, and often relies on primary care physicians for dementia screening. Dr. Tomas Leon proposes a pilot study that will develop an online educational program for primary care physicians to improve early diagnosis of dementia in Chile.
Research Plan
Dr. Leon and colleagues will develop an online educational program that will be tailored to primary care physicians to expand their knowledge of dementia diagnosis and care. Participants will include 30 physicians from primary care clinics across Chile. The team will also recruit individuals with dementia and their caregivers at each clinic to provide feedback to physicians taking part in the online program. At the end of the program, the researchers will administer course evaluations and knowledge screening assessments to the participants to evaluate the success of the educational program. Finally, the researchers will expand their program and distribute the program materials to other countries in Latin America.
Impact
If successful, this project may develop a new education program to improve diagnosis of dementia in primary care clinics in Chile.
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