RE: A proposal for updating the aging and dementia section of user research

Hi Mike,

+1 from me.

John

John Rochford
UMass Medical School/E.K. Shriver Center
Director, INDEX Program
Instructor, Family Medicine & Community Health
http://www.DisabilityInfo.org
Twitter: @ClearHelper
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From: Michael Pluke [mailto:Mike.Pluke@castle-consult.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2015 4:08 PM
To: public-cognitive-a11y-tf
Subject: A proposal for updating the aging and dementia section of user research

Before any changes are made to the "Aging and Dementia" section of the User Research document I would like to get agreement to an overall approach that hopefully avoids the impression that aging is in itself a cognitive  condition.

I propose that we should:


-          Re-title the section "Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia".
The introduction can explain that things such as memory loss can often increase with age but it is only when this is abnormal that it gets classified as Mild Cognitive Impairment or, if worse as one of the forms of dementia, most typically Alzheimer's.

-          Change the heading "Symptoms" into "Challenges".
The aphasia and dyslexia sections have separate headings "symptoms" and "challenges" but as we are not trying to supersede standards like DSM-5 it probably isn't wise to try to give a supposedly authoritative list of symptoms. The existing content is a very reasonable set of challenges that many people with various forms of dementia may experience. Also people who are normally aging will also experience some of these.

-          Give one list of challenges that apply to all of the categories under this heading e.g. MCI, Alzheimer's, other forms of dementia and even aging.
The existing document gives four different lists of "symptoms" for:

o   "Common Symptoms of Cognitive Decline Due to Both Aging and Dementia",

o   "Symptoms of Cognitive Decline Due to Aging" and,

o   "Symptoms of Alzheimer's"

o   "Symptoms of Less-Common Dementia (Non-Alzheimer's)"
but it is exactly the same list apart from the addition of one extra "symptom" for  Alzheimer's and a few minor additional notes in places. These minor changes could be details added to the single list.

If this overall approach is acceptable, then changes can begin to be made in line with the above.

Best regards

Mike