Psychologists are often sought out by families or nursing home staff to develop intervention strategies for behavior problems in dementia patients. This article describes a systematic approach, or practical model, for developing these strategies. Variables that may contribute to behavior problems include comfort needs, assaultiveness, anger, patient's perceptions, activity involvement, triggers, patterns of escalation, personal history, caregiver interaction styles, and level of cognitive functioning. Each variable of this model is described in terms of key team members, relevant team dynamics, assessment, and intervention strategies.Psychologists are being increasingly called on to help develop intervention strategies for behavior problems in dementia patients (Nordhus, VandenBos, Berg, & Fromholt, 1998). The need for psychological intervention begins with the realization that "The dementias are the most commonly found psychiatric syndromes in the nursing home with a prevalence of 67 to 78 percent" (Grossberg & Solomon, 1993, p. 35). The behavior problems of dementia patients constitute a disproportionate part of the caregiving burden. As a result, the management of these behavior problems is primarily left to nursing assistants, who often have little or no formal training in working with behavioral problems (Liptzen, 1992). Given these considerations, the need for involvement of psychologists becomes clear. This article describes a practical model that psychologists can use to guide their assessment and intervention efforts directed toward behavior problems in dementia patients.It may be initially tempting to look for specific approaches to specific problems. For example, one may ask how to manage assaultiveness, wandering, disruptive vocalizations, or inappropriate sexual behavior. Indeed, a number of authors have offered recommendations to manage specific behavior problems. These strategies tend to be either behavioral, environmental, or some combination of these techniques (e.g.,

The present study investigated the neuropsychometric correlates of the Mini-Mental State Examination. 12 consecutive neurological referrals were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Wechsler Memory Scale, and the WAIS--R. Pearson product-moment correlations suggest moderate association between scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination and Wechsler Memory Scale but less robust relationships between scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination and WAIS--R Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQs.

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There is an increasing emphasis on the use of behavioral techniques to manage problem behaviors in people suffering from a dementing illness. The need to involvepsychologists with an expertise in behavioral management techniques is becoming more apparent. Despite this need psychologists are often not involved as a part of the dementia management team. Differences between nursing staff who are often the core of the dementia management team, and psychologists may pose a barrier to psychologists who might practice in this area. Important differences include background, expectations, knowledge base, and perspectives on providing treatment. A mutual awareness and handling of these issues is critical to the successful incorporation of the psychologist into the dementia management team.

Two self-report measures that have been used to screen an alcoholic population for Attention Deficit Disorder, Residual Type (ADD-RT) are the Childhood Symptom Checklist and a listing of the DSM-III criteria. Both measures have evidence supporting their validity as screening instruments for ADD-RT in alcoholics. This study further explores the properties of these instruments by determining whether the age or educational level of alcoholic patients relates to their performance on these measures. No differences were found between the scores of younger and older patients. However, alcoholic patients with more education had fewer DSM-III symptoms of ADD-RT, but did not have fewer symptoms on the Childhood Symptom Checklist. The difference in performance on these two previously consistent measures is noted. Future research might explore the possibility that the DSM-III symptoms of ADD-RT are more sensitive to functional deficits in adults than the Childhood Symptoms Checklist, which asks for symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder as a child.

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