From what I have seen Memory Tests are practically a waste of time.  They prove little and in the wrong hands have the potential to do harm.

I have had the misfortune to see several Memory Tests conducted during our journey with dementia.  It is possible they provide a base line of some sort  I would contend many of them are practically worthless.  I will use a couple of examples to make my point.

I recall a Care Coordinator from the Memory Service  testing M’s memory during a home visit.  Her investigations led to a referral to a Consultant.  He repeated a similar test and diagnosed Mild Cognitive Impairment with Vascular Changes.  A similar test was repeated by one of his colleagues, a Specialist Doctor, some months later.  She visited our home a few months later and carried out an ACE 3 test and diagnosed Vascular Dementia.  M’s G P confirmed the other day she has Mixed Dementia, based on an initial test carried out by a Clinical Psychologist from the Stroke Team.

In addition to what can only described as a charade; other people have carried out their version of the memory test on M.  A GP at our Medical Centre carried out his own ‘hotch potch’ test, after the Memory Service had discharged her and said there was no further point in testing.  A G P in Out of Hours at the local hospital asked her how her memory was.  I wonder if a tattoo on her forehead would help: ‘there is no point in further testing’.

Something my sister passed on today has taken the biscuit on the testing front.  One of her friends has told her that staff at a Day Centre have subjected her mother to a spelling test.  You’ve guessed it; her mother has vascular dementia.  Memory testing is like a virus that has the potential to impact on the lives of all those with dementia.  I wonder who we need to vaccinate to stop the virus in its tracks?