News
PREPARED - Primary Care Education, Pathways and Research of Dementia
Monday 2 March 2015: Minister of State Kathleen Lynch has today launched PREPARED, a new national Primary Care Dementia project which aims to upskill and support GPs and Primary Care Team Members in order for patients to receive optimal, evidence-based dementia care.
PREPARED – ”Primary Care Education, Pathways and Research of Dementia”, is led by Dr Tony Foley, Department of General Practice, UCC, with collaborators from the School of Nursing, Dublin City University and the Irish College of General Practitioners.
Underpinned by the Irish National Dementia Strategy, this Strategy highlights the importance of timely diagnosis, early intervention and clear pathways of care - citing the pivotal role played by GPs and members of the Primary Care Team in dementia care. Minister Kathleen Lynch T.D., Minister of State for Primary Care, Social Care and Mental Health, says: ”Old age should not rob people of what is so valuable to them: their control over their lives, their privacy and their dignity. We want to increase awareness of dementia in the community so that we can act faster and smarter to ensure timely diagnosis, treatment and support. The very mention of dementia can cause fear and confusion. Those who come into contact with a person living with dementia are often similarly confused. Reducing this confusion, correcting misinformation and misunderstandings, and focussing on what is possible at every stage of the condition, instead of what is not, are all important parts of what we are about.”
Dr Tony Foley states that, ”This is a uniquely multidisciplinary approach to a complex, chronic illness. Carers of persons with dementia will be central in informing the training needs of GPs and Primary Care Team members. PREPARED reflects the priorities within the Irish National Dementia Strategy, and is grounded in the day-to-day needs of Patients, Carers, GPs and Primary Care Team members.”
PREPARED has the potential to make Irish dementia care an exemplar for other chronic disease management pathways. By facilitating crucial organisational reform, and by examining local barriers and enablers to best practice, PREPARED will offer the capacity to fundamentally alter the way in which dementia care exists in Ireland.