Role of Community Health Workers in Addressing Dementia: A Scoping Review and Global Perspective

Abstract

The current increase in global dementia prevalence deserves public health intervention. While limited access to health care and a shortage of health care workers are significant shortcomings, utilizing community health workers (CHWs) could be a promising way to improve dementia care through cost-effective approaches. This scoping review synthesizes existing research on roles of CHWs in dementia-related services. PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, CABI Global Health, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to October 2, 2019, and yielded 1,594 articles. Five broad areas emerged as potential roles of CHWs from 10 eligible articles: educational and community awareness, screening for dementia, screening for HIV-associated dementia, utilization of health care systems and other dementia-related resources by patients, and services to dementia caregivers. This scoping review sheds light on important contributions of CHWs in addressing dementia among vulnerable communities/groups around the world.