Educating About Alzheimer's Disease: Curricular Implications for Health Professionals

The number of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is expected to increase in the future. Health professionals must be prepared to meet the health care challenges associated with caring for this vulnerable group. Knowledge about AD and the complexities of caring for its victims are essential to providing appropriate care for patients and fmaily members. This paper examines knowledge about aging and AD among nursing and medical students and describes curricular implications for health professionals' education. Results show that: (1) both nursing and medical students performed poorly on a test of general knowledge about aging; (2) health professional students scored well on the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge (ADK) Test compared to students and professionals whose scores have been previously reported; and (3) students' scores on the ADK reflected both their self-reported knowledge level and their type of educational preparation. This paper concludes by discussing four essential AD topics that must be addressed in the educational curricular plan for health professional students.