Primary care providers’ sources and preferences for cognitive health information in the United States

SUMMARY

In most countries, physicians and other health-care providersplay key roles in promoting health. Accumulatingscientific evidence suggests that providers may soon wantto include cognitive health among the areas they promote.Cognitive health is the maintenance of cognitive abilitiesthat enable social connectedness, foster a sense ofpurpose, promote independent living, allow recovery fromillness or injury and promote effective coping with functionaldeficits. The US Centers for Disease Control andPrevention has established health promotion about cognitivehealth as a policy priority, with health providersincluded as one key group to participate in this effort.This study presents results from focus groups and interviewswith primary care physicians (n = 28) and midlevelhealth-care providers (physician assistants and nursepractitioners, n = 21) in three states of the US. Providers were asked about their sources of information on cognitivehealth and for their ideas on how best to communicatewith primary care providers about research oncognitive health. In results, providers cited online sources,popular media and continuing medical education as theirmost common sources of information about cognitivehealth. Popular media sources were used both proactivelyand reactively to respond to patient inquiries. Differencesin sources of information were noted for physicians ascompared with midlevel providers, and for rural andurban providers. Several potential ways to disseminateinformation about cognitive health were identified.Effective messaging is likely to require multiple strategiesto reach diverse groups of primary care providers, and toinclude continuing medical education.

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