An effective system to link people with dementia to services has four components: public education, information and referral, case management, outreach. Congress could mandate the establishment of such a system. Relevant policy considerations are whether the system should serve only people with dementia or other people who need long-term care as well; whether it should be composed of only one type of agency or several types of agencies nationwide; whether it should also provide services, and whether it should assure the quality of the services to which it refers patients and families.
Other output or dissemination activity: A demonstration project was funded. It has been reauthorized twice. Approximately 15 states are receiving federal funds to develop systems to link people with services.