Streamlining the Alzheimer’s Disease Journey Through Care Navigation

As scientific understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) continues to advance, healthcare systems are facing both new opportunities and persistent challenges in how patients are identified, diagnosed, and supported. While progress in research and diagnostics is accelerating, many patients and families still encounter fragmented care pathways, delayed diagnosis, and limited coordination across the healthcare system.

To examine how these challenges can be addressed, I recently had the pleasure of joining Phyllis Barkman Ferrell, DrPH, MBA, Senior Advisor, Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Health System Preparedness Initiative, and Dr. Greg Cooper, MD, PhD, Chief of Adult Neurology and Director of the Norton Neuroscience Institute Memory Center for a discussion focused on the Brain Health Navigator model , an approach designed to help streamline the AD journey through earlier recognition, coordinated care, and improved system readiness.

Addressing a System-Wide Challenge

AD is not only a clinical condition, but a system-wide and human challenge, one that affects patients, care partners, clinicians, and health systems alike. Early symptoms may be subtle and easily overlooked, and the lack of universally applied cognitive screening often delays referral to specialty care. As a result, individuals may miss opportunities for timely diagnosis, care planning, and access to evolving scientific advances.

Addressing these gaps requires looking beyond individual interventions and examining how care pathways are designed, implemented, and supported in real-world healthcare settings.

The Role of Care Navigation

Central to this discussion is the concept of care navigation in AD. Drawing on models used in other therapeutic areas, such as oncology, the Brain Health Navigator role is intended to help guide patients and families through complex diagnostic and care processes. Navigators may serve as a single point of contact, helping reduce fragmentation, support communication across care teams, and connect families with appropriate resources.

From a clinical and system perspective, navigation also offers a way to support overextended primary care providers and improve coordination across increasingly specialized healthcare environments. Early observations from pilot sites suggest that navigation models may help reduce delays in referral and diagnosis while improving the overall patient and caregiver experience.

Collaboration and Shared Learning

Collaboration among industry, healthcare systems, nonprofit organizations, and clinical leaders to drive meaningful changes in AD care is more important than ever. Open-access tools, shared learning, and flexible implementation approaches are presented as essential to making navigation models scalable and sustainable across diverse care settings.

Rather than relying on a single, standardized solution, adapting navigation models to local healthcare infrastructures, recognizing that systems vary widely in resources, workflows, and patient populations, offers the most opportunities for success.

Looking Ahead

As the AD landscape continues to evolve, strengthening care pathways and improving system readiness remain critical to ensuring that scientific progress translates into real-world benefit. Care navigation models represent one approach to helping patients and families move through the AD journey with greater clarity, coordination, and support.

Click here to access the Brain Health Navigator toolkit on the Davos Alzheimer’s Collective website: DAC Brain Health Navigator

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