Individuals who suffer memory loss due to Alzheimer's or other conditions often have trouble communicating with their caregivers. This can create stress for both parties. Northern Michigan University's communication disorders department helps patients and their families assess problems and explore alternative ways to interact with each other.
NMU Professor Helen Kahn has established a clinical internship at The Memory Diagnostic Center, a collaboration involving two county hospitals, the Alzheimer's Association and NMU. This outpatient consultation service evaluates clients using a collaborative team approach and provides treatment recommendations and referrals to appropriate support services. It also offers advice on managing everyday problems.
"We think this center is the only one of its kind in the nation to have a speech-language pathologist on the team, rather than just on the receiving end of a referral," Kahn said. "It's unique, and I wanted our students to share in the experience. Communication deficits at some point are common among those with dementia. But they are often ignored and many people don't realize the relationship between communication and memory. People with memory problems sometimes just need help learning new ways to communicate."
For example, Alzheimer's patients reach a point where they can no longer handle complex language, long sentences or open-ended questions. Family members who don't understand that can become frustrated. Kahn and her students help caregivers break down those barriers, demonstrating how to communicate in simple sentences and ask questions that offer clear choices.
Dr. Roman Politi, the center's medical director, makes each formal diagnosis with input from the rest of the team, based on their respective areas of expertise. As part of her clinical teaching assignment, Kahn supervises up to three graduate interns per semester. She said the ultimate goal is to maintain independent living in the home environment as long as possible.
"Other centers might diagnose a problem, but offer little or no follow-up," she added. "That's important to us. If the patient and caregiver are in need of help, we can schedule sessions with them or even home visits. Most families are receptive and relieved to know they don't have to deal with this alone."
Kahn and the student interns follow up with 20 to 30 percent of the patients who come to the center, but all patients return for follow-up appointments with Dr. Politi and the rest of the team. The students also participate in the intake evaluations, which can last from two to four hours. They conduct hearing screenings or hearing aid tests for a vast majority of new patients.
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