Cognitive Impairment – Dementia

Older adults use the emergency department (ED) as an important source of acute medical care, making 20 million visits annually. People with dementia are twice as likely to use the ED and 1.5 times more likely to have an avoidable visit. When in the ED, they often struggle with the fast-paced setting and may not be able to give a complete medical history. These challenges, along with other adverse events, put patients with dementia at greater risk for poor outcomes.

Three decades of research has shown that dementia is under-recognized in emergency departments, despite a proliferation of screening tools. Under-recognition of dementia in the emergency department leads to under-recognition in inpatient services, which has broad-reaching consequences, such as longer hospital stays, lower patient satisfaction, accelerated cognitive declines, and increased health care costs. Yet, little research has explored how to improve emergency clinical care for people with dementia