A Multidimensional, Person-Centered Framework for Functional Assessment in Dementia: Insights from the 'What', 'How',...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Neurology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Dementia diagnosis relies on progressive functional decline (FD), but its assessment lacks standardization.
• Current methods for measuring FD create controversy and blur boundaries between normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a multidimensional framework for assessing functional decline (FD) in neurocognitive disorders.
• To address key questions regarding activities of daily living (ADLs), assessment methods, target populations, and differentiation of aging and neurocognitive disorders.
• To introduce a person-centered approach involving patients and caregivers in the FD assessment process.

Main Methods:

• Developing a multidimensional framework for functional decline (FD) assessment.
• Incorporating a person-centered approach where patients and caregivers actively participate in identifying and rating the significance of impaired activities of daily living (ADLs).

Main Results:

• The proposed framework aims to standardize the assessment of functional decline (FD).
• It introduces a person-centered approach to functional decline (FD) assessment, enhancing patient and caregiver involvement.
• The framework seeks to improve the differentiation between healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment, and major neurocognitive disorders.

Conclusions:

• A standardized, multidimensional, and person-centered framework is needed for functional decline (FD) assessment in dementia.
• This approach will improve the accuracy of diagnosing dementia and differentiating it from other cognitive states.
• Future strategies for dementia treatment and patient/caregiver support can be enhanced by this framework.