New clinics offer quicker access to dementia diagnosis, services

Multidisciplinary dementia clinics open in Moncton, Sackville, and Riverside-Albert

Published Apr 30, 2024 • Last updated Apr 30, 2024 • 4 minute read

Three multidisciplinary clinics for people with dementia have recently opened in Moncton, Sackville and Riverside-Albert to help patients and their caregivers receive faster access to diagnosis and services. UNSPLASH

Three new clinics in southeastern New Brunswick will be helping to cut down on the wait time for diagnosis and services for people living with dementia.

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Non-profit multi-specialty interprofessional teams (MINT) have opened in Sackville, Moncton and Riverside-Albert comprised of a variety of health-care professionals, such as nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers.

Chandra MacBean, executive director for New Brunswick’s chapter of the Alzheimer Society of Canada, said the clinics are based on the MINT Memory model out of Ontario.

The goal is to provide early intervention for people showing early signs of dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Linda Lee, one of the founders of MINT Memory Clinic, said the model was created in Ontario in 2006 and since 2008, more than 100 MINT clinics have trained in Ontario and 22 MINT Clinics trained in the provinces of British Columbia, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

MINT Memory Clinic is a not-for-profit organization that trains clinicians across the country. The clinics operate independently and are fully sustained through the public health-care system. There is no cost to patients for accessing services, and the organization is dependent on grant funding, said Lee.

Currently in New Brunswick a person could wait months or close to a year after their primary care provider refers them to a geriatric specialist, said MacBean.

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The MINT clinics cut down on the waiting list and allow patients to undergo clinical assessments and testing faster, and connect the patient and their caregivers with resources, education and services to cope with the news of the diagnosis, and helps them to prepare for the future, such as legal and financial planning.

“It’s wonderful to see how this model takes the skills and expertise of each of the members of that team and really wraps those supports around the family because that’s really what this model is all about,” said MacBean, noting the team is trained to have difficult conversations, such as surrendering a driver’s license, that often fall on physicians who are under an already heavy load.

“They are immediately able to access services that typically people don’t try to access until much later in the disease journey.”

The earlier a person receives a diagnosis the sooner they can begin adjusting to life after the diagnosis, and play a role in their designing their own care plan, said MacBean.

She said the clinic works with groups already in the region, such as community health centres and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Research from other MINT clinics has shown the savings in costs to the health system could be roughly $51,000 a year for each patient, said MacBean.

Lee said an independent evaluation commissioned by the province of Ontario in 2018 demonstrated that compared to usual care, MINT Clinic care for people with dementia was associated with nearly 50 per cent reduction in wait times to accessing care, 50 per cent reduction in emergency department costs, 50 per cent reduction in hospitalization costs, a delayed need to transition into long-term care, and 38 per cent reduction in overall health-care system costs.

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Within the first year of having the MINT clinic in Miramichi there was a reduction in the number of patients who needed to wait for a geriatric specialist, said MacBean.

“I think that’s something we’d love to see mapped out on a wider scale across the province,” she said.

The clinics were established in New Brunswick through the interest of physicians, funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, and existing resources within the regional health authorities.

Lee said the government of New Brunswick helped to support some of the training costs. She noted the spread of the model to the first site in Miramichi was spearheaded by physician Dr. Michelle Casey, geriatrician Dr. Benjamin Glickstein, and MacBean.

Casey had worked in a MINT Memory Clinic in Ontario and wanted to bring the model of care to Miramichi.

The expansion to the other three clinics was led by Sylvia Gautreau and the MIND Clinic in Moncton, along with Dr. Stephanie Urquhart and Dr. Andrew Weseen, said Lee.

Christa Wheeler-Thorne, Horizon’s executive director for the Moncton area, said in a statement Horizon is committed to improving access to services, which includes offering the “best possible access” to memory care.

“The MINT model offers an integrated, team-based, and patient-centred approach to memory care by offering a central access point for patients and caregivers to receive quick access to high-quality care,” said Wheeler-Thorne.

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“We are currently in the process of finalizing our referral process, and look forward to maximizing the impact and reach of this program moving forward, in collaboration with our partners.”

MacBean said there is also a need for a provincial dementia strategy. Having a strategy could alleviate some of the other pressures on the health-care system, such patients with dementia diagnosis waiting in hospitals for long-term care placements.

She noted if there was more support and evidence-based solutions in the community for caregivers of dementia patients, the people could stay in their homes longer.

“There has been work but we have not had that formal announcement just yet,” she said, adding there had been interest from the province for a dementia strategy going back to 2017.

Brunswick News has asked the Department of Health for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.

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