Co-designing a structured referral template to enhance dementia diagnosis: a modified e-Delphi study.
Background Dementia care is a health and social care priority, with rising prevalence driven by ageing populations worldwide. Timely and accurate diagnosis improves quality of life, enables access to support and is becoming even more critical due to the emergence of disease-modifying therapies for A...
| Publicado en: | Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 2; pp. 1 - 10 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Feb2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=192513137&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 192513137 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00020729 AGA jtl: Age & Ageing issn: 00020729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Feb2026 vid: 55 iid: 2 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 192513137 10.1093/ageing/afag008 ppf: 1 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Co-designing a structured referral template to enhance dementia diagnosis: a modified e-Delphi study. aug: au: Cronin, Mary Jennings, Aisling A Caufield, Una Coonan, Isabelle Cornally, Nicola Daly, Bart Dockeray, Lucinda Hartigan, Irene Lawlor, Brian McCarthy, Geraldine affil: Department of General Practice, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Dementia Research Advisory Team, Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Integrated Care Programme of Older Persons (ICPOP), HSE South West and Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland Irish College of General Practitioners, Dublin, Ireland Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine - Trinity Institute of Neurosciences, Dublin, Leinster, Ireland Sligo Medical Academy, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland su: Ireland Consensus (Social sciences) Health self-care Human services programs Patient safety Primary health care Medical screening Cognition Activities of daily living Diagnosis of dementia Secondary care (Medicine) Research funding Descriptive statistics Surveys Clinical deterioration Research methodology Delphi method Medical referrals Health care teams Medical triage Accidental falls sug: subj: Consensus (Social sciences) Health self-care Human services programs Patient safety Primary health care Medical screening Cognition Activities of daily living Ireland All Other Miscellaneous Ambulatory Health Care Services Diagnosis of dementia Secondary care (Medicine) Research funding Descriptive statistics Surveys Clinical deterioration Research methodology Delphi method Medical referrals Health care teams Medical triage Accidental falls keyword: co-design consensus copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 dementia diagnosis https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag008 inLanguage:en older people patient referral primary care publisher:Oxford University Press referral sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41627306/ triage co-design consensus copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 dementia diagnosis https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag008 inLanguage:en older people patient referral primary care publisher:Oxford University Press referral sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41627306/ triage ab: Background Dementia care is a health and social care priority, with rising prevalence driven by ageing populations worldwide. Timely and accurate diagnosis improves quality of life, enables access to support and is becoming even more critical due to the emergence of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's disease. Complex referral pathways can contribute to diagnostic delays and under-diagnosis. A structured, evidence-based referral template could enhance diagnostic efficiency and care quality. Methods This study was conducted in two phases. First, a two-round e-Delphi survey was used to achieve consensus on items for inclusion in a dementia referral template. In the second phase, a modified Nominal Group Technique was employed with a multidisciplinary panel and Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) contributors to discuss, refine and prioritise items, ensuring clinical relevance and practical applicability. Results The consensus process refined and prioritised 76 potential referral items into a final set of 11 essential components. The resulting concise template balances clinical relevance with usability, potentially supporting more efficient referral and triage. Items achieving the highest consensus included cognitive screening scores, rapid deterioration, problems with daily activities and patient safety concerns. Conclusion The findings demonstrate the value of structured consensus methods in developing a practical, evidence-based referral template, tailored to optimise dementia diagnostic pathways. This is particularly important in the current evolving therapeutic landscape, to ensure that people with suspected dementia receive timely diagnosis and access to appropriate care and treatment options. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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