Video series guides primary care teams to implement comprehensive dementia care
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has released a new four-video series highlighting how The GSA KAER Toolkit for Brain Health supports primary care teams to improve timely detection of cognitive impairment, care, and outcomes for people with dementia.
The four steps of the KAER framework—kickstart, assess, evaluate, and refer—are designed to achieve greater awareness of cognition and brain health in older adults, increase detection of cognitive impairment, initiate diagnostic evaluation, and make referrals for educational and supportive community services for people with dementia.
"The KAER toolkit helps normalize conversations about brain health in primary care so patients and families can have meaningful conversations earlier. This creates opportunities for timely assessment, evaluation, and referral, leading to earlier action and support," said video series narrator Theodore "Ted" M. Johnson II, MD, MPH, the Paul W. Seavey Endowed Chair, chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, and chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at Emory University.
Filmed at Emory Integrated Memory Care (IMC), each five-minute video describes a step in the KAER framework and describes how primary care teams can use the tools and resources of that step to improve care. Clinicians of multiple disciplines, including nurse practitioners, social workers, and physicians, offer clinical insights into how to implement the KAER framework in practice throughout the videos.
"What makes this video series transformative is that it centers the voices of patients and care partners who tell us that early, compassionate conversations about cognitive changes are life-changing—they open doors to both disease-modifying treatments and essential support services while there's still time to plan," said Carolyn K. Clevenger DNP, RN, GNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP, FGSA, FAAN, who participated in the videos.
Clevenger is the founder and former director of IMC, and now the dean of the School of Nursing and a professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Georgia.
"Primary care providers will see how a timely diagnosis isn't just about identifying impairment; it's about activating an entire ecosystem of care that includes the family, community resources, and specialists working together," Clevenger added. "These videos show clinicians that comprehensive dementia care is both achievable and deeply meaningful in primary care settings."
Provided by The Gerontological Society of America
