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Bridging the diagnostic gap: Expanding dementia care navigation for timely diagnosis
Carriere Lucille, Minyo Morgan, Bass David, Possin Katherine L, Samper-Ternent Rafael, Salinas Joel, Deaner Nicole. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026-06-22
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Over half of dementia cases remain undiagnosed, with persistent disparities across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Dementia care navigation (DCN) has demonstrated value in post-diagnosis settings. If implemented earlier, DCN could address diagnostic delays and care gaps. We define the diagnostic window as the period from initial symptom awareness through diagnosis and early care planning. Drawing on deliberations from the Alzheimer's Association Dementia Care Navigation Roundtable, we present a pre-diagnosis DCN framework organized across six domains and describe navigator roles across three phases: pre-evaluation, diagnostic assessment, and immediate post-diagnosis and transition. We address special considerations, including people without a care partner and those with unmet care needs. The framework complements federal initiatives such as the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model and the National Alzheimer's Project Act and identifies existing reimbursement pathways for pre-diagnostic navigation activities. Generating evidence to refine these models across diverse settings will be essential to inform policy action and system-level integration.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Lucille, C., Morgan, M., David, B., Possin Katherine, L., Rafael, S.-T., Joel, S., et al. (2026). Bridging the diagnostic gap: Expanding dementia care navigation for timely diagnosis. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71619
Vancouver
Lucille C, Morgan M, David B, Possin Katherine L, Rafael S.-T, Joel S, et al. Bridging the diagnostic gap: Expanding dementia care navigation for timely diagnosis. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2026. doi:10.1002/alz.71619. PMID: 42324989.
BibTeX
@article{lucille2026-42324989,
author = {Lucille, Carriere and Morgan, Minyo and David, Bass and Possin Katherine, L. and Rafael, Samper-Ternent and Joel, Salinas and Nicole, Deaner},
title = {{Bridging the diagnostic gap: Expanding dementia care navigation for timely diagnosis}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1002/alz.71619},
pmid = {42324989},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71619}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Dementia care navigation (DCN) has demonstrated value in post-diagnosis settings.
Why it matters
This article proposes a pre-diagnosis dementia care navigation framework across six domains to address undiagnosed dementia and diagnostic disparities, and identifies existing reimbursement pathways. It is a framework proposal about improving timely diagnosis, not a treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 34/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 33 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 34 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-17) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Nicole Deaner holds only 6 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, San Francisco: institution h-index 1,912 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42324989) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 33 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 33 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 34 out of 100. |
| Total | 34 / 100 | — |
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