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Family physicians and dementia in Canada: Part 1. Clinical practice guidelines: awareness, attitudes, and opinions
Canadian Family Physician, 05/18/09

Pimlott NJG et al. - Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can standardize and improve the quality of care, increase account-ability, and conserve resources. Although CPGs are widely available, evidence suggests that family physicians do not follow them.

This study used focus groups to explore family physicians awareness of, attitudes and opinions about, and use of the 1999 Canadian Consensus Conference on Dementia (CCCD) CPGs.
Most of the participants in this study were not aware of having received the CCCD CPGs. Those who did remember receiving them did not have much knowledge about the specific content. There was disagreement about where guidelines fit in the "evidence hierarchy," and many participants were concerned about the credibility of the CCCD CPGs because they were funded by pharmaceutical companies.
Some participants were also concerned about the relevance of CPGs; many believed that family physicians (and possibly patients and family caregivers) needed to be more involved in preparing future guidelines. They also suggested that guidelines would be more widely used if they were available in a variety of formats, including concise "1-pagers" and electronic versions.