Majority of the Dutch Primary Dementia Care Networks Do Not Include Allied Health Professionals

Tijmen Geurts,1,2 Dorien L Oostra,1– 3 Marcel GM Olde Rikkert,1,2 Minke S Nieuwboer,1– 3 Marieke Perry1,2,4 1Department of Geriatric Medicine, Radboud Research Institute, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; 2Radboudumc Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; 3HAN University of Applied Sciences, Academy of Health and Vitality, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; 4Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the NetherlandsCorrespondence: Marieke Perry, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10 (route 699), Nijmegen, 6500 hB, the Netherlands, Tel +31 24 361 67 72, Email [email protected]: Allied health professionals can contribute to better quality of life of people with dementia. However, it is unclear whether DementiaNet networks effectively integrate their expertise. We aim to describe the extent of allied health involvement in DementiaNet networks.Methods: Between 2015 and 2021, 35 currently active primary care networks were formed. During this period, logs of the network’s composition were kept and used to describe allied health involvement.Results: Ten networks included at least one allied health professional at the start of the project, which increased to 17 networks at follow-up. Networks with allied health professionals were larger than average and predominantly situated in (sub)urban areas.Conclusion: Less than half of the DementiaNet networks included allied health professionals at follow-up. The reasons for this are unknown. Therefore, exploration of barriers and facilitators for allied health involvement is necessary to engage allied health professionals and improve interprofessional collaboration.Keywords: allied healthcare, primary healthcare, interprofessional, dementia