Starting a Conversation About Diagnosis
If you suspect your loved one is displaying the signs and symptoms of dementia, you should encourage him or her to get properly diagnosed and treated. However, starting a conversation with someone on this sensitive issue may not be easy. This article will first provide a short guide to how to start a conversation with a person living with dementia about getting a diagnosis, and then detail some guiding points about how to navigate these conversations.
Who Can Diagnose Dementia?
Screening persons for dementia and a diagnosis of dementia are two different things.
Screening for dementia with tools like the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) cannot be used to diagnose a person with dementia. They are instead used to spot some obvious symptoms of dementia in persons being screened, after which persons who have been identified with dementia symptoms may be encouraged to consult a doctor for further testing.