Maud Hevink

| 50 (13). To further integrate the diagnostic process and post-diagnostic support, initiatives have been undertaken towards integrated care (14). For example, the Pridem study aims to incorporate the concept of integrated care in primary care practices (15). Memory clinics are traditionally organized around the diagnostic process but have also started offering post-diagnostic support (16). A qualitative synthesis of integrated dementia care showed positive experiences of people with dementia and their caregivers (17). Improving the transition between the diagnostic process and post-diagnostic support means that healthcare providers may be involved in both aspects. However, much research has been focused on the patient perspective through the diagnostic process and post-diagnostic support, the experiences and views of healthcare providers largely focus on either the diagnostic trajectory or postdiagnostic support (18, 19). It is therefore important to explore how healthcare providers perceive and manage the transition from the diagnostic phase to post-diagnostic support in dementia care. Understanding how healthcare providers manage this transition could enable more effective preparation and support for healthcare providers, ensuring a smoother transition and more integrated dementia care. Methods The study is part of the international Co-Designing Dementia Diagnosis and Post-Diagnostic Support (Cognisance) project focusing on improving support for people with dementia and informal caregivers. This mixed methods study uses a convergent parallel mixed methods design, a type of design in which qualitative and quantitative data are collected in parallel, analyzed separately and then merged (20). The reason for combining qualitative and quantitative data is to converge to two forms of data to bring greater insight into the transition between the diagnostic trajectory and post-diagnostic support than would be obtained by either type of data separately. Survey data will be used to describe healthcare providers’ views on the diagnostic trajectory and post-diagnostic support and compare views of those who are involved in diagnostic trajectory or post-diagnostic support only or both, and what aspects are important in connecting the diagnostic process to post-diagnostic support. Interview data will be used to explore healthcare providers’ experiences of the transition between the diagnostic process and

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