Navigating barriers to dementia specialty care among vulnerable populations: Insight from a multidiscipline care navigation team

The emergency department evaluates many patients with undiagnosed cognitive impairment and presents an opportune setting to facilitate early detection and referral to memory care specialists. We evaluated a novel care navigation pathway that facilitated referrals of ethnoculturally diverse individuals with suspected cognitive impairment from geriatric professionals embedded in the emergency department to dementia specialist care. We compared rates of referrals and successful appointment attendance for patients in this pathway compared to patients in a traditional primary care provider referral pathway. The care navigation team successfully identified and mitigated multiple barriers to accessing dementia specialist care, thereby increasing access.