PODCAST: No more “diagnose and adios”: Rethinking dementia diagnosis

Starting to recognize the symptoms of dementia in yourself can be scary enough in the first place. But for many people living with dementia, that process is compounded by doctors who seem unwilling or unable to make a diagnosis or offer adequate support when they do. The diagnosis process often takes years, and people living with dementia often feel abandoned to “get their affairs in order” once they finally do get diagnosed.

However, both people living with dementia and health care leaders in Michigan are working to speed up the diagnosis process and offer more support to newly diagnosed people. As we continue our second season of Michigan’s State of Health, we’ll introduce you to Michiganders living with dementia who have struggled to get a diagnosis – and those who are working to change the diagnosis process for the better. Listen to the episode in the widget below.

Michigan’s State of Health is a spinoff of the State of Health series of feature stories, which you can read here. Michigan’s State of Health is produced by Issue Media Group and made possible through the support of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.