Table 1: Outline of method for developing the blueprint for a Brain Health Clinic.
Project timeline: |
• November 2018, project launch and work-groups form • March 2019, first full group videoconference • April - August 2019, follow-up full group videoconference • September - December 2019, iterative development and pilot testing of the tool • February 2020, launch of Brain Health Clinic blueprint on-line tool |
Setting and procedures: |
· Baseline clinical audit of three representative Memory Assessment Services in Manchester, UK to describe current clinical practice · Initial contact with professional stakeholders via a two-day Dementia Academy clinical masterclass hosted by Neurology Academy (www.neurologyacademy.org), Sheffield, UK (11/2018) to form a project task force · Project orientation session introducing aims, method and timeline · Five delegate workgroups formed; each assigned a sub-section of the tool · Workgroup video-linked meeting every two months to draft the blueprint · Fourth draft presented for consultation to new delegates of Dementia Academy masterclass, Sheffield, UK, June 2019 · Sixth and seventh iterations developed by the workgroup · Final version launched on-line, February 2020 |
Task force participants |
Delegates attending the Dementia Academy masterclass were 32 practicing clinicians with the following backgrounds: · geriatric psychiatry (n = 1) · geriatrics or medicine for the elderly (n = 15) · specialist registrars (senior clinical trainees) in geriatrics, neurology and geriatric psychiatry (n = 5) · orthogeriatrics (n = 1) · mental health nursing (n = 1) · neuroscience nursing (n = 4) · general practice (n = 2) · neuroradiology (n = 1) · clinical research in ageing (n = 1) |
Facilitators: |
· The project lead and Dementia Academy director (IL) facilitated the group sessions and video-linked meetings · Each workgroup was facilitated by a Dementia Academy faculty member · Each workgroup appointed a designated lead to coordinate work |
Data collected to develop the blueprint for the Brain Health Clinic: |
· Stage 1: Audit of MCI diagnosis and patient journey in NHS UK MAS’s (11) · Stage 2: Expert consultation, divided into five work workgroups to develop the components of the BHC: · Aim and ethos of the BHC · Characteristics of the typical BHC attendee · Steps in a diagnostic work-up to establish a meaningful diagnosis of prodromal dementia, including the sub-type, and risk stratification · Types of interventions (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) and the infrastructure to support them · Patient journey through and beyond the BHC · Stage 3: Consultation with experts of the draft tool · Stage 4: On-line launch of the tool, Blueprint for a BHC |