The GSA KAER Toolkit is intended to support primary care teams in implementing a comprehensive approach to initiating conversations about brain health, detecting and diagnosing dementia, and providing individuals with community-based supports. It includes practical approaches, educational resources, and validated clinical tools that teams can integrate into their workflow. 

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For more details on how to use the KAER Toolkit, click here.

To learn about the recent KAER Toolkit updates, click here.

Support provided by Eli Lilly and Company, Otsuka, Genentech, and Eisai.

This is the first edition of the GSA KAER Toolkit - published in 2017. This comprehensive toolkit is focused on the KAER model developed by the GSA Workgroup on Cognitive Impairment Detection and Earlier Diagnosis. The workgroup identified valuable tools and resources to implement the four steps in the KAER model. The resulting toolkit provides options for each of the steps so that PCPs, health plans and health care systems can select the approaches and tools that fit best with their existing primary care structure, organization, and procedures. 

Support provided by Eli Lilly and Company.

A form that primary care teams can use to facilitate referrals to interdisciplinary professionals, supports, and services for individuals with dementia and their families. 

Early detection of dementia is vital, and it allows people living with dementia to receive comprehensive care to address symptoms, build a care team, participate in supportive services, access community supports, and potentially access disease-modifying treatments or enroll in clinical trials. With early detection of cognitive impairment and disclosure of the diagnosis to the patient, the individual with the condition and their care partners can set systems in place that allow them to achieve their highest practicable level of function and quality of life. In this episode, Dr. Joshua Chodosh shares strategies to kickstart the brain health conversation, describes how he has engaged the whole healthcare team in the conversation, and highlights approaches aimed at early detection of cognitive impairment in the primary care setting. Dr. Chodosh also underscores how providers can use tools in The GSA KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Teams to enhance their early detection efforts and help to improve outcomes for older adults with cognitive impairment and their care partners. 

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This podcast episode is supported by Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA). 

In their special report, Alzheimer’s Detection in the Primary Care Setting: Paving a Path Forward, the Alzheimer’s Association reported that despite a strong belief among older adults that brief cognitive assessments are important and that early detection of cognitive problems is beneficial, only half are being assessed for cognitive decline, and much fewer receive routine assessments. The Association’s findings about dementia care practices in primary care along with the ever-growing number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias highlight the need to take a systems approach to improving dementia care. In this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Amy Boehm, senior health systems director for the Alzheimer's Association discusses the urgent need to improve dementia care practices in primary care, how The GSA KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Teams addresses an unmet need for primary care providers, and shares how the Alzheimer’s Association Health System Initiative can support them in implementing practice change to improve dementia care. Amy also offers strategies to get started with changing practice in any care setting. 

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For more information on speakers of this session, visit podbean for details.

This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Otsuka, Lilly, and Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA). 

According to the McKnight Brain Research Foundation website, “there is growing hope and expectation that it’s possible to maintain cognitive health later in life, allowing people to age independently and enjoy the benefits of a fuller life.” During this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the University at Buffalo’s Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Jacobs School, and Angelika Schlanger, PhD, executive director of the Foundation, will offer insights into brain health, cognitive health, and cognitive aging. They discuss how normal cognitive aging differs from changes in cognitive function due to dementia. Finally, they offer insights into how individuals can take steps to promote their brain health at any age. 

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For more information on speakers of this session, visit podbean for details.

This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Otsuka, Lilly, and Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA). 

Early detection of dementia leads to better outcomes for individuals with dementia and their care partners. It allows them to potentially benefit from a variety of care interventions, make decisions about their care, and tap into community resources to enhance their quality of life and function. Despite this, the Alzheimer’s Association reported that neither patients nor primary care practitioners routinely raise brain health issues – particularly in the case that a patient has signs of mild cognitive impairment. In this GSA Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Bonnie Burman, president of the Ohio Council for Cognitive Health, discusses barriers to kickstarting brain health conversations and early diagnosis of dementia, offers strategies to overcome them, and highlights how care providers and other communities of interest can use the KAER Toolkit for Brain Health to improve early detection of dementia. 

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For more information on speakers of this session, visit podbean for details.

This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Otsuka, Lilly, and Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

With the number of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease continuing to grow (estimated at 6 million Americans in 2017), it is imperative that primary care providers conduct earlier cognitive impairment assessments to ensure that older adults receive appropriate medical care and referrals to community services that can often lead to improved health-related outcomes and well-being. The online GSA KAER toolkit provides approaches and tools for primary care providers to kickstart the cognition discussion with their patients, to assess for cognitive impairment, to evaluate and diagnose dementia, and to provide post‐diagnostic referrals for education and supportive community services for persons with dementia and their family caregivers. During this webinar, attendees will hear how the KAER model was developed, learn how to use the toolkit, and receive an overview of the approaches and featured tools to implementing each step of the KAER model. 

Support provided by an independent grant from Merck & Co., Inc.

“Understanding Pseudobulbar Affect,” the inaugural publication of the new Insights & Implications in Gerontology series from The Gerontological Society of America, addresses an often overlooked or misunderstood condition that has the potential to lead to decreased quality of life for older adults and their caregivers. Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is a relatively common disorder in patients with neurologic conditions that can have a substantial negative impact on quality of life. Characterized by sudden bouts of uncontrollable crying and/or laughing that are disproportionate or inappropriate to the social context and are not associated with depression or anxiety, PBA is often underrecognized and undertreated. Treatment options available for PBA can reduce symptoms and improve quality of life, and coordinated care from the interprofessional health care team, along with the patient’s caregivers, can optimize management and outcomes for patients. 

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Support provided by Avanir.

This infographic highlights key information from the publication, Insights & Implications in Gerontology: Understanding Pseudobulbar Affect. 

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Support provided by Avanir.