ABSTRACT
In this chapter we consider the assessments made by core members of the team, the psychiatrist, specialist nurse, occupational therapist, and speech and language therapist. This composition will vary from place to place and indeed since writing this, our own team has been enlarged by a social worker. The Manchester service, also called the ‘Carisbrooke service’, offers a multidisciplinary team approach to assessment. This should afford the younger person with a range of interventions that are relevant to their particular diagnosis and which should complement the diagnostic work. Roles in assessment, such as those of the psychologist and social worker, are discussed in Chapters 6 and 7. We begin with the psychiatrist, since in the Manchester service part of the psychiatrist’s role is to screen referrals prior to assessment. Then, referral into the service is outlined, followed by the specific therapy assessments
Psychiatric assessment
The manifestations of dementia are threefold: cognitive impairment; non-cognitive symptoms (another term is ‘behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia’ or BPSD); and decrements in daily activity (Burns et al, 1999). The cognitive symptoms include memory difficulties, apraxia, geographical disorientation, aphasia, problems with writing and reading, along with difficulties in reasoning and making judgements. These are described in detail in Chapter 2.
