Dorothy- Assessment Note

Early stages of Dementia Misplacing items loss of imitative changes in personality poor judgement changes in mood and/or behaviour disorientated to time and place difficulty performing familiar tasks (making cup of tea) difficulty finding right words problems with simple calculations AssessmentThe assessment got people with the early features of Dementia is a multidimensional- meaning information is obtained from a number of resources in collaboration with mental and physical health assessments.Examples include Taking a history from the person and family member/ carer/ close friend - this will enable the assessor to collect information from more than once source allowing them to make a differential diagnosis from assessing the person now compared to the information gathered regarding their previous history. Physical Examination- a physical examination will carried out to rule out any physical complaints that may be causing the person to become forgetful (Urinary Tract Infection). The person's physiological observations will be obtained (Blood Pressure, Temperature, Saturation Levels, Pulse, Respirations). The physical examination also allows the assessor to have a baseline of the person's normal ranges and also if they are not within normal ranges can investigate further for physical explanation of psychological symptoms. Imaging such as CT scan or MRI scan- This allows the assessor to gain an understanding of the person's brain- allowing them to assess abnormalities and to obtain information from scientific testing. (Changes in ventricles, cell death, neuronal loss, amyloid plaques, tangles) - these all suggest the manifestation of the development of Dementia particularly Alzheimer's disease. The person's ability to carry out activities of daily living will be assessed. Cognitive testing using assessment tolls such as Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scoring assessment tool which measures an individuals

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