Neuropsychological Evaluation
A neuropsychological evaluation can:
- Determine if changes in thinking, including memory, are related to normal aging, an injury, dementia, medications, a medical condition or something else
- Establish a baseline so that changes in thinking skills, mood and personality can be monitored over time and treatment options can be updated
- Help the patient and family make decisions about work and driving
- Provide information for a physician in order to help with medication selection to reduce side effects or improve cognition, mood, behavior or everyday functioning
- Educate family members about how a brain disorder has affected the patient’s thinking skills and personality so they can better help and understand
- Empower patients and families with options for treatment
- Offer personalized recommendations that address all contributing factors.
What can you expect during a neuropsychological evaluation?
A neuropsychological evaluation typically occurs over three sessions (can be reduced if the patient is traveling from a distance).
Clinical Interview
This is the first step in the evaluation and typically takes one hour. It provides your neuropsychologist a chance to learn about you and your family’s concerns in detail. During the interview, your doctor will ask you and your family questions about how symptoms began and may have changed over time. We will review your background including childhood, family history, school and work background, medical diagnoses, medications, recent hospitalizations, mental health, coping skills, and hobbies/current interests. Your doctor will also review medical records from your referring doctor to learn about your medical history, workups to date and medications. This is also a chance for you to ask us any questions.
Testing
This is the second step in the evaluation and typically takes 3 hours. You will be offered rest breaks and a drink/snack, don’t worry! It’s natural to feel a little nervous when we think about being tested but remember your providers and staff do their best to make you feel comfortable and respected. The majority of these tests are paper and pencil based and will be administered by a trained technician under the supervision of your doctor. You will be asked to do things like read words aloud, reason your way through puzzles and learn a list of words. All test instructions will be clearly explained to you. There are no tricks. The goal is to identify your areas of strengths and weaknesses. These are not pass or fail tests. These tests are the gold standard for figuring out how the brain is working and how the person is coping in everyday life. Our job is to make you feel as comfortable as possible during the testing process. Your only job is to try your best!
Feedback
This is the third step in the evaluation and typically takes one hour. Once your neuropsychologist has integrated the test data with the medical records and information gathered in the interview, a comprehensive report is written detailing the results and personalized treatment recommendations. This report will be reviewed with you and your family during the feedback session in understandable language. You, your family and neuropsychologist will discuss any additional questions during this meeting. Finally, we set up a plan for follow up with us.
- Medication suggestions pending physician approval
- Strategies for managing medical conditions that are contributing to memory decline
- Counseling for patient and family
- Level of care and supervision needed
- Environmental modifications, strategies for behavior change
- Patient and caregiver resources including geriatric care management
How should I prepare for the testing?
- Bring your eyeglasses or hearing aids, if you have them
- Take your medication as you normally would
- Get a good night’s sleep the night before, eat a good breakfast or lunch before you arrive at your appointment
- The most important thing is to try your very best!
Why should a family member/trusted friend come with me to the interview and feedback appointments?
In order for us to do the very best job we can, we need a lot of good quality information. We view you and your family/trusted friend as experts, alongside us as your doctors, to provide the information we need to best understand you. People who know you well are in an excellent position to add to our knowledge in the interview because they may have noticed changes that you have not. We also invite them to the feedback session because we believe that your “village” is in the best position to help us help you!
How will my other doctors find out the results of this evaluation?
Once the evaluation is complete, a detailed report will be sent to your referring provider along with any other providers in your care team that you prefer. We can also send a copy to you and your family.
How will this evaluation help me?
Before the most helpful and appropriate recommendations can be made, we need to exactly what is causing the problem. A neuropsychological evaluation is the gold standard for figuring out why changes in thinking, mood or behavior have happened. Once a diagnosis has been made, we can then offer you and your family personalized recommendations. These can include:
- Medication suggestions pending physician approval
- Strategies for managing medical conditions that are contributing to memory decline
- Counseling for patient and family
- Level of care and supervision needed
- Environmental modifications, strategies for behavior change
- Patient and caregiver resources including geriatric care management
Contact us to schedule your neuropsychological evaluation.
HOURS
Monday - Thursday
8:30am - 5:00pm
CONTACT
Phone: 910-420-8041
Fax: 910-420-8071
LOCATION
PO Box 3991
Pinehurst, NC 28374