• geriatrics
• dementia
• care systems
• access to care

Ten minutes past the end of my shift in the ED, Kristina approaches my desk asking if I can meet a family. Kristina is a former military medic now working as an Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) in our ED at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ohio, USA. I look up to see tears welling in her eyes. She tells me that a veteran in room 6 with early-onset dementia is here for weight loss. The real reason for presentation is sensed by the despair in his wife’s voice. She is the caregiver for her husband, a reverend who led parishioners in Ohio for 35 years. A man tasked with the invocation when Barack Obama visited the Memorial Civic Center in 2008. A community leader who several years later began depending on notes when preaching became disoriented when driving and finally stepped down from his role as a pastor because of dementia. Mr. C’s wife was not sure where to turn, reaching the point of physical and mental exhaustion. She was assisting with his self-care needs, ensuring he did not accidentally fall down the stairs in their home, fitting …