title: Dementia care in rural China.
abstract: Dementia is a major cause of disability and has immense cost implications for the individual suffering from the condition, family caregivers and society. Given the high prevalence of dementia in China with its enormous and rapidly expanding population of elderly adults, it is necessary to develop and test approaches to the care for patients with this disorder. The need is especially great in rural China where access to mental healthcare is limited, with the task made more complex by social and economic reforms over the last 30 years that have transformed the Chinese family support system, family values and health delivery systems. Evidence-based collaborative care models for dementia, depression and other chronic diseases that have been developed in some Western countries serve as a basis for discussion of innovative approaches in the management of dementia in rural China, with particular focus on its implementation in the primary care system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Yeates
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Conwell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Public Health School, Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Shuiyuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiao
keywords: chronic disease management; collaborative care; dementia; rural China