DEMENTIA (KS MARDER, SECTION EDITOR) Assessing Dementia in Resource-Poor Regions

Abstract The numbers and proportions of elderly are in-creasing rapidly in developing countries, where prevalence of dementia is often high. Providing cost-effective services for dementia sufferers and their caregivers in these resource-poor regions poses numerous challenges; developing resour-ces for diagnosis must be the first step. Capacity building for diagnosis involves training and education of healthcare pro-viders, as well as the general public, development of infra-structure, and resolution of economic and ethical issues. Recent progress in some low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) provides evidence that partnerships between wealthy and resource-poor countries, and between de-veloping countries, can improve diagnostic capabilities. Without the involvement of the mental health commu-nity of developed countries in such capacity-building programs, dementia in the developing world is a disas-ter waiting to happen