Primary care providers in the country’s most populous state have a new screening tool to help them identify cognitive decline in older adults and determine next steps.
Dementia Care Aware, a statewide initiative led by the state Department of Health Care Services, will provide free online training on the new assessment and other relevant dementia care topics, as well as free clinical support via telephone.
“Dementia Care Aware is an important part of California’s Master Plan for Aging, which is reimagining programs and services for older adults,” Susan DeMarois, director of the California Department of Aging, said in a statement. “Early dementia screening will be even more critical in future years, as the disease often goes undetected for long stretches of time. This widespread screening and detection will allow people to make medical, financial and other decisions and strengthen their support systems.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), whose father had dementia, first called for a Master Plan for Aging for the state in 2019.
“Over the next decade, our statewide senior population will increase by 4 million,” he said at the time. “In 25 years, it will double, and more than half will require some form of long-term care.”
Dementia is the third leading cause of death in California, according to Jacey Cooper, California’s state Medicaid director and DHCS chief deputy director for healthcare programs, who added that “dementia is a common condition that must be diagnosed and managed with compassion and excellence.”
Screening for dementia is “increasingly a skill and clinical pathway we need as our healthcare systems care for more and more people living with dementia,” Anna Chodos, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco, and executive director of Dementia Care Aware, said in a statement.
