Psychology in the Dementia Diagnostic Pathway
The Dementia Diagnostic Pathway includes two services, which both work in similar ways, and can be accessed by getting a referral from a GP:
- Young Onset Dementia Service (YOD): for adults under 65 years.
- Memory Assessment Service (MAS): for adults 65 years and older.
These services are made up of lots of different healthcare professionals, including nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists. The teams aims to gain a well-rounded understanding of the specific and possibly unique difficulties with memory or other thinking skills our patients might face.
During a patient's first appointment, they will normally meet a specialist health professional (such as a nurse) to talk about any changes in memory or other thinking skills, coping around the house, or causes for concern. The healthcare professional will also ask about the patient's background and history (for example, schooling, work history, and family life) to help understand how things may have changed for that person. The healthcare professional will then arrange further checks or tests if these are needed. The aim of this assessment is to understand any changes that are affecting someone's daily life and if these changes are due to a dementia, since changes can be caused by many things.
If a dementia is diagnosed, both services work closely with other services to provide support after diagnosis, such as the Therapeutic Intervention Service (or TIS, which is provided by Nottinghamshire Healthcare) or Alzheimer's Society and Carers Federation (which are charity organisations).
Who works here
- Clinical Psychologist
- Assistant Psychologist
For more information on Psychology in The Dementia Diagnostic Pathway you can contact the Lead Psychologist for the Older People Care Unit Dr Anna Buckell (Anna.Buckell@nottshc.nhs.uk).
Working with the person
Psychological professionals in MAS and YOD complete neuropsychological assessments with people who have noticed changes in their memory and thinking skills.
Neuropsychological assessments involve three parts:
Part 1 - A clinical interview
This is an informal chat to help the professional learn about how someone used to be before they noticed any changes, things they find easier and things they now find more difficult. This normally includes speaking to the patient and someone close to them who knows them well.
Part 2 - Some 'puzzle-type' tasks
This normally happens after the clinical interview and can take two to three sessions, depending on the unique difficulties someone has noticed. These tasks look at lots of different skills, such as
- Memory,
- Language,
- Visual and spatial skills (how you see things around you),
- Attention,
- Problem solving.
It is important that anyone taking part in these tasks remembers to wear their glasses and / or hearing aids if they use them, as some of the tasks are written or need to be listened closely to.
Part 3 - Reviewing information from other assessments
The professional will then look at information from other assessments, like brain scans or blood tests. Patients will normally already have had these done before they have their first appointment with a psychological professional in MAS / YOD.
Once this is done, the psychological professional will work with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to pull all of this information together with the aim of trying to understand what has changed for the patient and whether any change is due to a dementia illness, or something else. Sometimes, it can take some time to understand everything. The psychological professional or another member of the team will meet with the patient (and a friend or family member, if the patient wishes) to talk through the results, answer any questions and decide on any further steps or support that might be needed.
Working with the team
Psychological professionals in MAS and YOD attend a weekly team meeting to talk about any recent assessments. Psychological professionals might talk about an assessment they have done recently to share information with other team members and will also listen to other professionals' assessments and let the staff know if they think psychology involvement would be helpful. This helps to build up the picture of what is going on for a patient, making diagnoses as clear and accurate as possible and planning support for after assessment is finished (whether a diagnosis is given or not).
Psychological professionals in MAS and YOD also support other staff members in the team, for example by providing supervision, and facilitating psychologically informed clinical discussion.
Updated: 8 August 2025 by Kate Shepherd
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