[Tokyo Metropolitan Dementia-related Disease Medical Center and Current Problems of Outreach project for Early-stage Dementia].

There are twelve dementia-related disease medical centers including psychiatric hospitals in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Few psychiatric hospitals or long-term care hospitals exist in our area (Bunkyo, Chiyoda, Taito, Minato, and Chuo wards) and we receive requests for hospital transfer of demented patients. Since the Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates that the numbers of aged persons will increase rapidly, a project for detecting and diagnosing early-stage dementias, the 'outreach project', has started. We visit people who show some cognitive symptoms and evaluate their cognitive functions and mental and physical status. Then, we support them to undergo medical examinations or receive appropriate care if needed. Most of the people we visited were women living alone who did not receive any care. Several cases were detected as early-stage dementia based on our evaluations. On the other hand, there were some cases suggested to be psychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia, with people showing some social or behavioral problems. Psychiatrists hope to attentively work for dementia patients with co-medicals in local areas.