The Ontario Ministry of Health & Long Term Care and the Ontario Senior Secretariat awarded the Ontario College of Family Physicians a $2,000,000 grant to develop a comprehensive multi-faceted medical education program for medical students, family medicine residents and practicing family physicians. The OCFP is completing this work under the direction of the Steering Committee appointed by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Senior Secretariat.
This program's educational objectives cover diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, the impact of the disease on the person, his/her family and caregivers; directions on accessing available resources; and directions on developing, maintaining and communicating an advanced care plan. The target audience includes: students of all Ontario medical schools, Family Medicine residents, family physicians, physicians practicing in Long-Term Care facilities and Community Care Access Centres.
1. Establish an initial dementia curriculum to be incorporated into undergraduate, postgraduate (programs of all Ontario medical schools) and CME Programs.
2. Establish an educational mentoring program on Alzheimer Disease and other related Dementias. A model for changing physician practice in community settings by identifying community-based family physicians acknowledged by their peers to be informal opinion leaders in the area of dementia and provide them with easy access to specialist support.
3. Support a group of educators (Peer Presenters) in all regions of the province to provide continuing education activities on dementia. Educational modules include:
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Dementia Diagnosis and Practical Office Based Dementia Assessment
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The Treatment of Dementia Focus on Starting, Monitoring, Switching and Stopping Cholinesterase Inhibitors
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Treatment of Depression: Dementia Case Study Depression and Dementia
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Managing Difficult Behaviors at Home and in Long Term Care
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The Capacity Module
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Driving Issues in Dementia
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Advanced Care Planning
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End of Life Care in Dementia: Clinical and Ethical Issues
4. Develop and disseminate web-based training modules. An easy-to-use, interactive website was developed as a repository for updated curriculum information with the capacity to allow for inexpensive video-conferencing and distance learning related to dementia.
Please visit the new Dementia Education website at www.dementiaeducation.ca
5. Deliver Advance Care Planning workshops for family physicians throughout the province.
6. Develop a cadre of preceptors to support the development of Family Medicine residency education programs throughout the province. Through a series of workshops, practical opportunities and web-based distance learning, selected academic family physicians from family-medicine residency programs across Ontario's medical schools developed additional competence in dementia care and strategies to help improve the quality of teaching related to dementia in family medicine residency programs.
7. Provide feedback to family physicians on the care they provide persons affected by dementia.
In 1999, the Ontario government announced a five-year strategy aimed at improving the quality of life of individuals with Alzheimer Disease and related dementias (ADRD) and their family members. Over $68 million was allocated to the ten point strategy which focused on: education for health care providers, caregivers and the public; service enhancements and expansions; and research activities and knowledge exchange.
The Physicians Training initiative was one of the initiatives. It's goal were to enhance training of family physicians, undergraduate medical students, and residents in early detection and diagnosis of ADRD, improved practice patterns, and optimal use of community and specialized services. Under the leadership of the Ontario College of Family Physicians and the Physician Education Steering Committee, a set of educational strategies were designed to address these goals:
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Establish a Dementia Curriculum to be incorporated into undergraduate, postgraduate & continuing medical education (CME) programs of Ontario medical schools
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Opinion Leader Program
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Peer Presenter Program
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Family Medicine Preceptor Program
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Advance Care Planning Education Sessions
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Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias Website
The Following evaluation summary provides an overview of each of these strategies including: the goals; activities undertaken;evaluation plan; and highlights of results from the evaluation. Detailed summaries of the evaluation findings are reported elsewhere.
Please click here to access the report
Several working groups (the Curriculum Design Working Group, the Opinion Leader/Peer Presenter Committee, the Website Development Working Group, etc ) are overseeing the tasks required to complete this project. The OCFP is working closely with each of the five medical schools and the two northern campuses.
Media Release: New Website Provides Dementia Education for Medical Professionals - Click here for more information
The Steering Committee members are as follows:
Dr. Andrè Hurtubise, Chair
Dr. John Feightner
Dr. Sidney Feldman
Dr. John Puxty
Dr. Ken LeClair
Ex Officio:
Susan King, Program consultant, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
Mrs. Jan Kasperski, Chief Executive Officer, OCFP
For further information, contact:
Ms. Eilyn Rodriguez, Associate Executive Director
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