<< Back
What resources for physicians improve dementia diagnosis in Ethiopia?
Mohammed Anbessie, M.D.
Amanuel Mental Specilalized Hospital
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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 living 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. Mohammed Anbessie and colleagues propose a small initial study that will develop culturally appropriate training program for primary health care workers to improve early diagnosis of dementia in Ethiopia.
Research Plan
Dr. Anbessie and colleagues will first develop a culturally appropriate dementia training program that will be tailored to primary healthcare workers to expand their knowledge of dementia diagnosis and care. This will include 55 primary health care workers from diverse primary healthcare settings across Ethiopia who will undergo training at the Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital. At the end of the program, the researchers will administer course evaluations and knowledge screening assessments to the individuals to evaluate the impact of the new training program on their knowledge of dementia screening. Lastly, the researchers will evaluate the real-world success of the program by comparing new referral and dementia diagnosis rates across major cities in Ethiopia.
Impact
If successful, this project may develop a new education program to improve diagnosis of dementia in primary care clinics in Ethiopia.
Back to Top