Dementia Assessment
and Treatment
Dementia Occupational Therapy: HERE’S HOW An O.T. MAY HELP YOU With Personalised Dementia Assessment, Treatment and Support
Should you get an occupational therapy dementia assessment? How will occupational therapy for dementia help me?
We often hear people raise these questions because no doubt they’re worried about what will be found.
No one wants a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease but being aware of how dementia affects your cognitive function means you can design solutions around it.
An Occupational therapy dementia assessment is the start line to help you live life better. We’re able to work with people under a variety of programs from self funded, private health insurance , to the NDIS or home care services.
Dementia Occupational Therapy: On this page we answer
It’s clear there is often a large time gap between the onset of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of someone living with dementia. In some cases the treatment occurs far too late.
We’d like to close this gap.
Why Is An Occupational Therapy Dementia Assessment Important?
Cognitive function decline is often referred to by people as the hidden or invisible symptoms of dementia. On the face of it – everything looks ok but there’s a progressive decline.
It may start off affecting a person’s executive function. These are skills such as problem solving and judgment for example. Over time continual changes in a person’s brain erodes their performance to do everyday tasks and may also result behaviour and personality changes. So in short dementia symptoms can profoundly impact a person’s:
- Ability to live independently,
- Manage complex life situations and
- Can be a source of significant disability.
Getting a memory health check up early helps define your cognitive strengths and weakness and what you can do about protecting and maintaining them. It makes sense when you consider:
- 1 in 4 women over the age of 75 years will experience dementia and
- 35% of adults over 65 years will experience mild cognitive impairment.
Sadly, a person living with cognitive decline and their families may experience a period of prolonged distress due to dementia symptoms especially dealing with dementia behaviours.
That’s why our dementia occupational therapy services exist, to help people live and thrive despite the memory and thinking changes. We’re able to do so by following a rigorous process of
- Dementia OT Assessment: This includes cognitive tests, functional assessment, lifestyle audits and more
- Dementia OT Treatment: Therapy programs include treatment options to help you acheive your goals and support caregivers
- Living With Dementia Support: Reviewing and adjusting treatment plans over time
What Is A Dementia Assessment?
Whether it’s investigating a specific dementia disease type such as;
- Alzheimer’s assessment
- Frontotemporal dementia assessment
- Vascular dementia assessment
- Lewy Body dementia assessment
A diagnosis of dementia is the domain of your doctor.
Your G.P or specialist is likely to request a brain scan like a MRI or SPECT as well as laboratory tests. The diagnosis is based on your symptoms and assessment results. This may take upto 6 months to complete.
You can expect the dementia occupational therapy assessment to complement your doctor consultation. An OT is trained to offer you ways to improve your function and quality of life when living with dementia.
What Is An Occupational Therapy Assessment For Dementia?
Regardless of the diagnosis, your occupational therapy assessment process evaluates your symptoms of dementia and builds a map of your strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats. This covers:
- Cognitive strengths and difficulties. This covers memory, perception and executive dysfunction
- Behavioural, functional and psychosocial changes
- Ability to perform activities of daily living ( bathing, dressing, walking, feeding for example)
- Capacity to perform more complex everyday tasks such as driving, banking, cooking and household management
- The environment in which you do these tasks. Your OT looks for the ways to reduce risks and improve your independence
- Lifestyle risk factors which can include exercise, diet, sleep, mentally stimulating and meaningful exercises for example
- Working with you and family member to improve and protect Quality of Life and Care Support goals
Sounds like a lot doesn’t it?
Our view is that it’s one syndrome, many diseases with many symptoms. So, the value of a solid and personalised assessment helps prioritise practical actions.
In short, your occupational therapist helps with care planning and treatment which is tailored to your goals. At the end of the day, your OT is there to help sustain and improve your ability to do the tasks which are important in your life – whatever that is.
What Happens At An Occupational Therapy Dementia Assessment
Firstly, the initial assessment underpins your therapy program. At our memory health clinic or via online therapy you can complete a functional assessment.
In this consultation we ask you to bring
- Most current medical reports
- Your sensory aids be it for your hearing or vision
- Loose fitting clothing as we get up and move
Occupational Therapy Dementia Assessment Tools
You might have heard of some of the OT Cognitive Assessments For Dementia already. Here’s a sample of the common assessment tools that Occupational Therapists and General Practitioners may use. Some are screening tools others are rating scales . The reason these memory assessments are used is to help identify cognitive impairment or to track changes over time.
- RUDAS: a short cognitive screening tool, recommended for use with those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- MOCA: Montreal Cognitive Assessment is a cognitive screening test designed to assist Health Professionals in the detection of mild cognitive impairment and Dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.
- The Mini Mental State Examination or MMSE is a widely used tool to provide a “snap shot” of overall cognitive health.
- Clock Drawing Test: Often paired with MMSE and a favoured general practitioner assessment tool
- The Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale – Cognition (ADAS-Cog)
- Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB)
- Stroop Test
- Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT III)
- Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT),
- Auditory and Visual version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test 2-second trials (PVSAT-2)
- The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS)
- Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE-III)
- Care Giver Strain Index
- Comprehensive Behavioral Assessment
- Modified Barthel Index
Yes there is alot – but which one is right OT Assessment for Dementia?
That said, there is no one “best dementia assessment tool“. If you decide to work with us you’ll hear us speak about your “task or goal” determines the right test and team.
You can expect your dementia occupational therapy program to include tools to help track your changes over time and we can deploy these online as well.
This can include diaries to monitor;
- Behaviour
- Lifestyle
- Mood
- Daily routines and levels of help
Lastly, we’ll often complete a home consultation as well can be completed at home, in clinic or online.
The Potential Benefits Of An Accurate Occupational Therapy Dementia Assessment
- Help the person living with dementia and their carers to reduce their lifestyle risk factors,
- Design home based treatment plans to support maximum independence and well-being
- Connect people with right services as they are needed,
- Tailor home modifications and assistive technology to meet personal and care needs today as well as tomorrow
- Reduce personal safety and carer risks and
- Establishes a plan for the future.
- Improve quality of life across the stages of dementia
- Enhance carer support activities to meet the needs of the person especially at the later stages of dementia
Evidence of Occupational Therapy For Dementia
Findings from a 2019 systematic review of OT programs for people living with dementia analysed the outcomes of 15 studies involving 2063 participants. The researchers concluded
“…occupational therapy provided at home may improve a range of important outcomes for people with dementia and their family carers. Health professionals could consider referring them for occupational therapy.”
Bennett et al (2019).
Occupational Therapy For Dementia: Is There A Right Time To Start?
In the comprehensive guide “Think You Parent Has Dementia? (Therapist Shares What To Do), David our senior therapist highlights that more often than not we wait far too long before acting on symptoms. In fact most people wait until there are significant life challenges before reaching out to therapy services. We encourage people to get in touch sooner rather than later.
That said
- Early
- Middle
- Late
- End of Life stages of dementia are all areas where you can engage an OT to help
It’s clear that OT is can be a key support for people with Dementia and their families.
You can expect your OT to work with you to maximise your independence in essential day-to-day activities. At OT Brisbane we do this through assessment of a person’s day to day life, covering their habits and routines and to prioritise on the one they want to maintain, protect or work on.
Therapy is often very practical and related to those activities which are important to you.
Occupational Therapy For Dementia Stages: Services and Programs At OT Brisbane
The dementia therapy services and programs offers practical strategies to help you live well.
You can expect programs which are backed by gold standard evidence as outlined by LANCET, ACTIVE and FINGER studies as well as practice guidelines developed and or supported by leading agencies such as Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, Dementia Australia, Association of Lifestyle Medicine and Neuroscience Research Australia and Occupational Therapy Australia.
- We accept referrals for people who are experiencing mild, moderate or late stage dementia and
- We offer services in our clinic or we are mobile across Brisbane to your home. So you may be living at home or in care supported facility environment.
- We offer services via National Disability Insurance Scheme ( NDIS), Medicare, Aged Care At Home Packages, Private Health Insurance and privately.
Occupational Therapy And Dementia Services Available In Brisbane: WorkS With You and Your Team
If you’re looking for an OT for your clients with dementia, our occupational therapists can help you and your health and home care services providers on a case by case situation. You can also access education events tailored to your care support team’s development needs.
So How Can We Help You?
- Manage challenging behaviours, such as wandering or refusing help
- Improve home safety and personal care management
- Access Aged Care, Private or NDIS home modifications to reduce your risks at home
- Implement a personalised treatment plan targeting personal lifestyle risk factors with the goal to maximise your independence and performance.
- Train you in the use of aids to compensate for cognitive decline and caregivers in coping behaviours and supervision.
- Driving Assessment services for cognitive decline: Prescribe programs to support your driving abilities. Read more about our driving assessment services here.
- Connect with compatible services and
- Prescribed and apply assistive technology when it is considered beneficial to your goals
- Improve quality of life, prescribe sensory strategies and support the carers at the late and end of life stages of dementia
How Can We Help You?
Please fill out the short form below and tell us how can we best help you? One of our team members will reach out when it comes through.
