Mind the Knowledge Gap: Mapping Critical Deficits in Global Dementia Education and Care Infrastructure

Abstract

Peter John Carey*

Dementia is a major global health, social-care and public-health challenge, yet important gaps remain in the educational infrastructure needed to translate dementia knowledge into prevention, timely recognition, appropriate care and sustained support. This conceptual paper examines three interconnected domains in which these deficits are particularly consequential: the dementia capability of the healthcare and aged-care workforce, preparedness among informal family caregivers, and dementia health literacy in the general public. Drawing on contemporary evidence and conceptual scholarship, the paper argues that dementia education should not be understood primarily as the transfer of information or the acquisition of knowledge. Rather, educational value depends on whether knowledge can be interpreted, made actionable, translated into capability, and supported by the contexts and systems in which people live and work. The paper’s unique contribution is to bring workforce capability, caregiver preparedness and public dementia health literacy together within a common translation-and-implementation framework, while positioning educational infrastructure as part of the wider capacity required for effective dementia prevention and care. The resulting three-pillar framework identifies a cross-cutting translation gap between evidence availability and the ability of individuals, professionals, communities and systems to act on that evidence. The paper also considers life-course risk reduction, midlife preventive capacity, digital dementia education and implementation in lower-resource settings. It concludes that strengthening dementia outcomes requires coordinated investment in educational capability across professional, family and population levels, supported by context-sensitive implementation strategies rather than information provision alone.

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