Memory Clinic can help when memory lapses become worrisome

A Memory Diagnostic Clinic providing a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and management of dementia is now available Tuesdays at the St. Joseph’s Hospital HealthPlex in Breese.

Occasional memory lapses are common—often the consequence of stress or aging—but the situation may be more critical when those slips interfere with daily activities.

Warning signs include memory loss that affects job skills; difficulty with familiar tasks or in recalling names or numbers; disorientation to time and place; poor judgment; problems with abstract thinking; frequent misplacing of things; mood, behavior or personality changes; and loss of initiative or motivation.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of memory disorder but stroke, Parkinson’s disease, depression, sleep disorders, thyroid or vitamin deficiencies, among others, can also play a role. Most of these conditions are treatable—some are reversible—but early diagnosis is essential.

A comprehensive evaluation is needed to ensure the most accurate diagnosis before a treatment plan is created. Providing that service are board-certified psychiatrist Scott J. Arbaugh, MD, board-certified adult psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner Gerald M. “Jay” Baltz and speech pathologist Susan Bickline.

Speech therapy will be available by referral for those patients who may benefit from cognitive-linguistic evaluation and treatment of attention, orientation, memory and safety judgment deficits that impact daily living.  Emphasis will be placed on compensatory cognitive strategies as an adjunct to pharmacological management.

Bickline, as clinic coordinator, meets first with those interested and completes a brief assessment including several memory tests.

Next, the patient and family meets with Baltz, the program director, for a psychiatric evaluation including medical history, functional assessment, cognitive evaluation, neurological exam, lab work, brain scan with MRI or CT imaging if appropriate, consultation with patient and family and a discussion of treatment options.

Follow-up visits will assess progress and staff will be available to assist in coping with the diagnosis and ongoing patient management. Referrals may also be made to outside agencies for additional assistance.

A physician’s referral is not required for an appointment and, with the patient’s permission, test results and progress notes are forwarded to the patient’s health care provider. Most health plans cover the evaluation; the hospital Business Office at 526-5329 or John Bono can answer specific questions.

For more information or an appointment, call 526-5636