Description

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This major clinical reference and text is the first volume to systematically address the entire process of neuropsychological assessment and intervention with older adults. The expert editors and contributors detail the current state of knowledge about frequently encountered conditions ranging from mild cognitive impairment to progressive, stable, and reversible dementias. Evidence-based assessment and intervention strategies are described, and specific guidance is provided for linking neuropsychological evaluation to individualized treatment planning. Demonstrating an array of cognitive training, compensatory, and psychotherapeutic approaches, the volume shows how these can successfully be used to improve patients' functioning and quality of life.

About the Author

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Deborah K. Attix, PhD, completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She joined the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Division of Medical Psychology) and Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology) at Duke in 1995 and is now an Assistant Clinical Professor there. Dr. Attix worked with the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and subsequently organized and became the Medical Director of the Clinical Neuropsychology Service at Duke University Medical Center. Her clinical work focuses on geriatric neuropsychological assessment and intervention. Dr. Attix is best known for her intervention work involving cognitive training and compensation and for psychotherapeutic techniques targeting memory, function, and mood in dementia.

Kathleen A. Welsh-Bohmer, PhD, is a Professor within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Division of Medical Psychology) at Duke University Medical Center and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology). Dr. Welsh-Bohmer was recruited by Duke University Medical Center in 1987 to join the newly formed Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and she currently is the Director of that center. Dr. Welsh-Bohmer is best known for her work in the clinical detection of early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias and the relationship of these diseases to genetic and environmental factors. She has been a leader in many multicenter collaborative studies of AD and currently leads the nationally known Cache County Memory Study, a population-based epidemiological investigation of mild cognitive impairment and AD. Dr. Welsh-Bohmer's clinical work focuses on neuropsychological assessment in neurodegenerative disorders, including AD and related dementias.

Praise For…

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"Superb! The editors and contributors are to be congratulated for producing this benchmark text for advanced graduate students, residents, and practitioners of geriatric neuropsychology. A unique feature of the text is its synthesis of intervention with assessment. Moreover, it provides detailed empirical support for using cognitive training, compensatory techniques, and psychotherapeutic interventions for improving mood, behavior, and functional capacity, even in disorders where progression is inexorable. Well written, thoroughly referenced, and up to date, this book is a powerful antidote to the therapeutic nihilism that often surrounds psychological work with dementia patients."--Jason Brandt, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

"Every neuropsychologist, clinical psychologist, and psychiatrist working with older people will want to beg, borrow, or buy a copy of this most impressive book. It is not only comprehensive but also original in its coverage of the issues faced by people with dementia and other conditions affecting the older population. The section on assessment is thorough and links theory and practice very well, and the coverage of therapy and treatment issues is especially strong. An important contribution to the neuropsychological literature, this practical resource is almost certain to become a classic."--Barbara A. Wilson, PhD, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK

"This book presents cutting-edge research and theory on the many diagnostic and therapeutic issues that confront clinical neuropsychologists and other health service providers who care for the steadily increasing number of elderly patients in every nation's health care system. The editors have integrated contributions from leading researchers and clinicians into a single, coherent, and valuable resource."--Robert J. Ivnik, PhD, Department of Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota


"Unusual in encompassing not only clinical neuropsychological assessment but also intervention. This volume seems destined to become a major clinical reference book, useful for doctoral and postdoctoral students, practitioners, and researchers....The editors have done a commendable job in creating a unified volume that is nicely introduced by an integrate model of assessment in Chapter 1 and an integrated model of intervention in Chapter 10."
— The Gerontologist

"The volume succeeds in every way, as a major advance and as an essential resource for the clinical neuropsychologist interested in this realm of practice....There is not a bad chapter in the book. Every topic takes readers somewhere better than they were before they cracked the spine....This is a book project that has been entirely successful. It needs to be on the neuropsychologist's shelf and available to students....This book is great by any standard."
— PsycCRITIQUES

"Those who decide to obtain this book will be very happy with their purchase. The book is comprehensive and well organized, which makes it an ideal selection as a resource to place on one's bookshelf. It is up-to-date and differs from similar books by providing a uniquely neuropsychological point-of-view about neurodegenerative disorders and related syndromes rather than simply rehashing methods for conducting a differential diagnosis. The book's viewpoint is helpful for the situation commonly encountered in most current clinical settings, when a multidisciplinary team makes the diagnosis and the neuropsychologist is asked to provide a functional assessment of the patient as well as an appropriate intervention. The sections on intervention are provided in a particularly useful and digestible format. The outline and theoretical rationale for neuropsychological intervention in geriatric patients is presented in an accessible manner, more useful than what is typically found in most sources on cognitive rehabilitation, including those books addressing traumatic brain injury intervention strategies. Whether a veteran or a recent entrant into the field, neuropsychologists from all backgrounds and specialties will benefit from this book's well-presented introduction to contemporary practice in geriatric neuropsychology."
— Journal of International Neuropsychological Society