The Community Outreach Education Program (COEP) was designed to provide educational interventions to disseminate information about the diagnosis, assessment, management, and treatment of dementia to health care professionals, service providers, staff of volunteer and community organizations and family caregivers. The present study describes one component of the needs assessment phase of the COEP-focus group interviews conducted with family caregivers and service providers. The predominant themes identified included myths and misconceptions about dementia, barriers to effective service delivery, and community strengths. The results were used to inform the curriculum and format of the community-based dementia education interventions designed for four sites in rural Michigan.
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