A review of Canadian and international dementia strategies

Healthc Manage Forum. 2017 Jan;30(1):32-39. doi: 10.1177/0840470416664533.

Abstract

To inform future strategy development in Canada and other jurisdictions, we undertook an Internet search to identify existing national and Canadian provincial dementia strategies and their major themes. Twenty-two dementia strategies were identified through an Internet search, supplemented by hand searches of reference lists of retrieved documents. Thematic analysis identified 17 strategic themes; common themes included improved diagnoses and assessments, increased access to care, and improved education of the healthcare workforce. This review reinforces the importance of a multi-faceted response to dementia and illustrates that, despite variation in needs across populations and geographies, there are many common priorities. The strategic themes identified in this review may provide a useful starting point for the development of new national strategies or, alternatively, as a check to determine if important priority areas have been missed in strategy development.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Canada
  • Caregivers / organization & administration
  • Dementia / diagnosis
  • Dementia / therapy*
  • Health Policy
  • Health Priorities
  • Health Services Accessibility / organization & administration
  • Humans
  • Long-Term Care / organization & administration
  • Quality Improvement / organization & administration