title: Family Physician-Case Manager Collaboration and Needs of Patients With Dementia and Their Caregivers: A Systematic Mixed Studies Review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dementia case management (CM) in primary care is a complex intervention aimed at identifying the various needs of patients with dementia and their caregivers, as well as the organization and coordination of care. A key element of CM is the collaboration of family physicians with case managers. We conducted a systematic mixed-studies review to identify the needs of the patient-caregiver dyad and the effects of CM.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE up to October 2014, regardless of the study design. Our main outcomes were needs of patients and their caregivers and the effects of CM on these needs. We used narrative syntheses to develop a taxonomy of needs and to describe the effects of CM on those needs. We used meta-analysis to calculate the prevalence of needs and the standardized mean differences to evaluate the effects of CM on the needs identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-four studies were included. We identified needs of the patient-caregiver dyad and needs of the patient and caregiver individually. CM addressed the majority of the identified needs. Still, some very common needs (eg, early diagnosis) are overlooked while other needs (eg, education on the disease) are well addressed. Fully establishing the value of CM is difficult given the small number of studies of CM in primary care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is good evidence that case managers, in collaboration with family physicians, have a pivotal role in addressing the needs of the patient-caregiver dyad.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada vladimir.khanassov@mail.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Khanassov
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vedel
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers; D019090:Case Management / Q000592:standards*; D000071959:Case Managers; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration
keywords: case management; collaborative care; dementia; patient-centered care; primary care; systematic review