Dementia Evaluation

Introduction
The purpose of this review is to evaluate three assessment batteries used for the evaluation of neurocognitive disorders; specifically, dementia and aphasia. According to Murray and Clarke (2014), dementia is defined as “a chronic, progressive deterioration of memory and at least one other area, such as personality, communication ability, or executive control functioning.” In contrast, Murray and Clarke define aphasia as “a disruption in using and understanding language following a neurological injury or disease that is not related to general intellectual decline or sensorimotor deficits.”
The assessment tools that will be evaluated in this review, due to their relation to the aforementioned disorders, include: The Functional
Both tests are short and take an average of 30 minutes to administer. This could be important, as many tests for AD, dementia, aphasia, or traumatic brain injury are administered in outpatient care centers where a Speech-Language Pathologist may not have a wealth of time to complete testing. Another similarity is that neither test requires the administrator to have additional training or certification to give the examination.
In relation to the contents of each test, the FLCI and SCCAN can both be used to test the client’s functional skills that contribute to their daily living. Test items are designed to be functional for the examinee. Finally, both tests have were created with an older adult population in mind and have large print and graphics to increase the ease of administration.
There are also several notable differences between the FLCI and the SCCAN. The SCCAN aims to test individuals with probable aphasia, dementia, or other undiagnosed disorders. In contrast, the FLCI is only utilized to test individuals with Alzheimer's. Although both sample populations include individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease, the SCCAN incorporates more individuals with Alzheimer's and more diversity of the
Both the FLCI and the MTDDA are standardized assessment tools. Both the FLCI and the MTDDA help in planning the treatment following the assessment. Both the FLCI and the MTDDA have a subtest that measures the client’s writing skills. The FLCI and the MTDDA can both be utilized to establish baselines for treatment. Due to the length to administer the MTDDA, it would most likely only be used as an initial assessment, while the FLCI could be used later on.
Upon examination of the Minnesota and the FLCI, differences have been noted in terms of the population of interest, administration of the test, and subtest measurements. The Minnesota has been out of print since the early 2000’s. Due to this, individuals seeking the Minnesota must go to the publisher. This is important because the Minnesota could still theoretically be used; however, the materials might be out of date in comparison to other tests. The FLCI, in contrast, is currently commercially available; therefore, it will more likely be updated and