Prospective Validation of the Ottawa 3DY Scale by Geriatric Emergency Management Nurses to Identify Impaired Cognition in Older Emergency Department Patients.

Study Objective: Assessment of older emergency department (ED) patients with cognitive impairment is challenging because few tools exist that can be quickly administered by front-line practitioners. Our objective is to validate the Ottawa 3DY Scale, a 4-question screening tool for cognitive impairment, in older ED patients and compare its performance with that of the Animal Fluency Test.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study in 2 EDs and enrolled a convenience sample of patients aged 75 years or older with no history of cognitive impairment.

Pathways to dementia diagnosis among South Asian Canadians.

Urban centers are increasingly ethnically diverse. However, some visible minorities are less likely than their majority counterparts to seek and receive services and treatment for dementia. This study explored experiences of South Asian Canadians, Canada's largest visible minority group, prior to dementia diagnosis.

A review of barriers and enablers to diagnosis and management of persons with dementia in primary care.

Background: With the rise in the prevalence of dementia disorders and the growing critical impact of dementia on health-care resources, the provision of dementia care has increasingly come under scrutiny, with primary care physicians (PCP) being at the centre of such attention.

Purpose: To critically examine barriers and enablers to timely diagnosis and optimal management of community living persons with dementia (PWD) in primary care.

Methods: An interpretive scoping review was used to synthesize and analyze an extensive body of heterogeneous Western literature published over the past decade.

eLearning, knowledge brokering, and nursing: strengthening collaborative practice in long-term care.

Interprofessional collaboration is vital to the delivery of quality care in long-term care settings; however, caregivers in long-term care face barriers to participating in training programs to improve collaborative practices. Consequently, eLearning can be used to create an environment that combines convenient, individual learning with collaborative experiential learning. Findings of this study revealed that learners enjoyed the flexibility of the Working Together learning resource.

Meanings, functions, and experiences of living at home for individuals with dementia at the critical point of relocation.

The sociophysical home environment is an integral component of everyday coping, self-identity, and well-being for individuals with dementia; however, residential discontinuity is a common experience for many of these individuals. This article examined the meanings, functions, and experiences associated with living at home for individuals with dementia at the critical point of relocation to a residential care facility. Qualitative research methods were used to analyze in-depth interviews with 16 individuals with dementia at their homes within 2 months prior to relocation.

Symbolic meaning of relocation to a residential care facility for persons with dementia.

Objectives: This study explored the perspectives of persons with dementia (PWD) on the meanings and experiences associated with relocation to a residential care facility (RCF).

Methods: A qualitative design was employed, which involved in-depth interviews with 16 PWD at their homes within two months prior to relocation. The work of Strauss and Corbin guided the analysis process.

Family physicians and dementia in Canada: Part 2. Understanding the challenges of dementia care.

Objective: To explore the challenges Canadian family physicians face in providing dementia care.

Design: Qualitative study using focus groups.

Setting: Academic family practice clinics in Calgary, Alta, Ottawa, Ont, and Toronto, Ont.

Family physicians and dementia in Canada: Part 1. Clinical practice guidelines: awareness, attitudes, and opinions.

Objective: To assess Canadian family physicians' awareness of, attitudes toward, and use of the 1999 Canadian Consensus Conference on Dementia (CCCD) clinical practice guidelines (CPGs); to explore the barriers and enablers to implementing dementia CPGs in clinical practice; and to identify more effective strategies for future dementia guideline development and dissemination.

Design: Qualitative study using focus groups.

Setting: Academic family practice clinics in Calgary, Alta, Ottawa, Ont, and Toronto, Ont.

Effectiveness of outpatient geriatric assessment programs: exploring caregiver needs, goals, and outcomes.

In this study, the authors examined the goals and outcomes of 141 caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment who attended a comprehensive geriatric assessment program (CGA). The vast majority of caregivers expressed at least one assessment goal, suggesting that the concept was relevant to them. Most caregiver goals focused on patient needs, with only 10% expressing goals specifically related to their own coping needs.

A continuing medical education initiative for canadian primary care physicians: the driving and dementia toolkit: a pre- and postevaluation of knowledge, confidence gained, and satisfaction.

This study examined the effect of the Driving and Dementia Toolkit on physician knowledge and confidence gained and the anticipated change in patient assessment and evaluated the extent to which physicians found the material to be useful. Before receiving the driving toolkit, 301 randomly selected primary care physicians received a copy of the pretest questionnaire; 145 responded and met the eligibility criteria. This group was then sent the toolkit, a satisfaction a survey, and a posttest questionnaire.

Older adults in the emergency department: a systematic review of patterns of use, adverse outcomes, and effectiveness of interventions.

Study Objective: We sought to synthesize the literature on patterns of use of emergency services among older adults, risk factors associated with adverse health outcomes, and effectiveness of intervention strategies targeting this population.

Methods: Relevant articles were identified by means of an English-language search of MEDLINE, HealthSTAR, CINAHL, Current Contents, and Cochrane Library databases from January 1985 to January 2001. This search was supplemented with literature from reference sections of the retrieved publications.