Dementia Diagnosis Training Project in Ecuador

This project will develop a curriculum of dementia training program be carried out based on several sources: a literature review, interviews, and focus groups with primary care physicians, experts, patients, and caregivers. The success of the project will be determined by a) The effectiveness of the curriculum measured by evaluations after every session, b) The grades of participants determined by the students overall score and, c) The impact of the course measured by interviews, questionnaires, and evaluations to be conducted at least two weeks before the start of the course, after the last session and four months after the end of the training. A curriculum to primary care physicians about dementia and training strategies to use tools for its diagnosis will be developed. It’s expected that the training will be eventually reproduced in the whole country. The project emphasizes the need to improve the education and training for physicians to recognize and diagnose dementia, highlighting the need to create structures within the national healthcare system to care for patients with dementia in Ecuador.