Co-ordinated care for older people with dementia

This article reviews policy and practice around dementia care, particularly support for carers of people with dementia, focusing on primary care professionals. It looks particularly at the role of the GP, issues of management of dementia care across primary and secondary care interfaces and relationships between specialists and generic members of the primary care team involved in dementia care. Having reviewed the literature, it then goes on to draw implications for the future development of policy and services with respect to the behaviour of primary care professionals; the organisation of services across the generic/specialist interface; and the role the research agenda can play in shaping this development.