Educational Needs and Conference Objectives

Introduction

In the next 50 years, for the first time in history, the majority of Americans will be middle-aged or older adults. One of the major health issues in this population is dementia. Primary care providers are often the first caregivers to encounter dementia patients. The purpose of this conference is to educate PCPs to diagnose and treat dementia as early as possible, as well as to be prepared to help patients and family deal with the significant impact of dementia on the lives of all involved.

Educational Needs

This conference is intended to educate its participants to:

1. Correctly differentiate between age-related memory loss, early Alzheimer's disease, and related disorders;
2. Recognize the importance of providing personalized health education and social support;
3. Know how to provide health education and social support;
4. Understand current research and promising new treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders;
5. Gain competence in selecting and monitoring treatment for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Conference Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

1. Recognize the clinical features of age-related memory loss and specific dementing disorders;
2. Describe the social implications of dementia caregiving and ways to prevent burden;
3. Utilize current methods for educating patients, families and caregivers to address the challenges posed by dementing diseases;
4. Review recent research findings and how they can be used to develop new therapies for dementia;
5. Describe current guidelines of monitoring patient response to dementia treatment.