What to Expect
A patient’s initial visit usually lasts two hours and includes a neurological assessment, cognitive testing, functional assessment and family history intake. To help provide an accurate history, patients should be accompanied by a family member who is familiar with the patient's symptoms.
Additional tests such as brain scans, blood tests, and neuropsychological tests will be scheduled as needed for another day. Subsequent visits will include a follow-up visit to discuss test results and follow-up examinations approximately every six months.
Related Services
- Follow-up and crisis intervention for patients and families
- Social service consultations to enhance family care
- Training in strategies of disease management
- Education about memory disorders for families, professionals and the community
- Referral to appropriate community services
- Referral to research programs
- Family Support Group at the Massachusetts General Hospital
Open to all family members of patients seen at the Memory Disorders Unit, the Family Support Group meets on the last Wednesday of each month from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The group is co-led by Mrs. Barbara Hawley Maxam, LSW and Mrs. Maureen Tardelli, M.Ed., c.c.c. The group is a forum to learn about dementia and a setting for family members to discuss topics of mutual concern. Please contact Mrs. Maxam at the MDU at 617-724-0055 for more information.
Non-MGH Resource Links
Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's Association
http://www.alz.org/index.asp
Alzheimer Research Forum
http://www.alzforum.org/
The Alzheimer Research Forum is a scientific, web community dedicated to understanding Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.
Lewy Body Dementia
Lewy Body Dementia Association
Patient and family support. Research and education information.
www.lewybodydementia.org
LBDA on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/LBDAtv
LBD Caregivers Support on Yahoo Groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LBDcaregivers/