Americans want cognitive screening and cannot access it.
Source: AARP / RAND / GAO
A free, three-gate cognitive screening protocol built from validated instruments. Caregivers use it to screen for dementia. The site generates a clinician-ready handoff packet — not a diagnosis, but the start of one.
Americans want cognitive screening and cannot access it.
Adults over 65 living with mild cognitive impairment.
People who have dementia and don't know it.
Primary care physicians have 15 minutes per visit, inadequate reimbursement for cognitive assessment, and no protocol for what happens after a positive screen. So screening doesn't happen.
That gap now has a price tag.
Two FDA-approved Alzheimer's treatments, lecanemab and donanemab, only work in early-stage disease. Once someone progresses past that window, they're no longer eligible.
Early detection of mild cognitive impairment is a medical necessity, not a preference.
Both anti-amyloid therapies are indicated only for patients in the MCI or mild-stage window. Late identification means ineligibility — permanently.
Anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody. Slows clinical decline in early Alzheimer's by clearing beta-amyloid plaques.
Anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody. Once-monthly infusion targeting plaques in early symptomatic disease.
First Signs Health does not diagnose dementia. It identifies people who need further evaluation — and gives them something specific to bring to their doctor.
Each gate uses validated public-domain instruments. Most people stop after Gate 1.
Two short tests check whether thinking and memory performance fall within expected ranges. If scores look normal, you skip to Gate 3 and check in every six months.
A longer assessment that maps which areas of thinking are affected and by how much. You'll get a score sheet that tells you how urgently to see a doctor — and gives that doctor something specific to work with.
A self-administered test you take on your own every six months to track changes over time. Four parallel forms prevent practice effects.
A clear-eyed list of boundaries. This is an upstream tool, not a diagnostic.
Set aside 20 minutes. Sit with the person you're worried about. Begin Gate 1.
Start the screener