New survey method helps caregivers with family members’ dementia
A new cognitive questionnaire filled out by a family caregiver can greatly assist in the accurate evaluation of an elderly person’s basic mental functioning and aid further treatment, according to a report in the journal Neuropsychology.
The term ‘Everyday Cognition’ or ‘ECog’ is used to provide clinicians with a simple and reliable method of identifying underlying changes in the brain, where an elderly patient may have problems in everyday life.
ECog entails the caregiver keeping track of the elderly person’s possessions, sorting out mail, following their conversations, shopping for items on a list, or even finding a car in the parking lot.
It enables the medical community, in conjunction with family members, to easily identify mild functional problems with the elderly in situations where dementia and its early warning signs can be often missed.
The seven key cognitive factors were established as memory, language, semantic factual knowledge, visual-spatial ability, planning, organisation, and divided attention.
Family caregivers and close friends were involved in the survey with half being spouses, 41% adult children, and the remainder family members or friends.
The research establishing the new ECog evaluation method was carried out by seven Californian academic and Veterans administration psychologists, who collected data on mental status and everyday functioning from 576 older adults with an average age of 77.
The researchers also interviewed neurologists, nurses, neuron-psychologists, and other professionals working with people with dementia.
