Educational care for patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers in France: A mapping proposal

Objectives: To formalize a proposal for educational approach for patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and caregivers across existing diagnosis/care organizations and structures. Methods: Three steps:1/ identifying the existing organizations and structures that could be involved in educa-tional care; 2/ identifying the main educational skills of interest for ADRD patients and caregivers; 3/ conducting a survey among these organizations and structures to achieve a mapping proposal of educational care. Results: Nine organizations and structures, and 29 educational skills of interest were identified for the step 3 survey. Overall, 423 organizations/structures completed the step 3 survey. Twelve of 29 educational skills were covered by 50% of organizations/structures included. The most covered skills were "Maintaining autonomy in daily living activities", "coping with cognitive disorders", and "coping with behavioral disorders". Conclusions: A mapping of educational care that could be provided by the different structures and organizations involved in the ADRD care pathway was proposed regarding their missions and intervention place. Practice implications: Policy makers and funding bodies will need to invest in the healthcare professionals' training about educational approach and ADRD in order to extend educational care throughout the patient's care pathway.