I believe I’ve asked something similar to this before but I was hoping for more answers for this.
I take care of my grandfather and I believe he has some form of undiagnosed dementia. Their primary care doctor is someone they’ve had for like 40 years and she doesn’t really do much for them when he sees her. His neurologist who he sees once a year assumes things are fine if he can tell him who the president is and when his birthday is. I’m with my grandfather every day sunrise to sunset and I know there is something else going on. No UTI, no other sickness. He has controlled diabetes. I just want to know, is there some kind of doctor with some specific title that I should be looking for in our area to help out with this?
Again, I know I received some ballpark answers but I’m just hoping to get some more specific answers for type of doctor.
thanks guys!
Ask for in-depth testing for your grandfather.
My husband has had a similar workup at the Pearl Barlow Center, which is part of NYU.
If you want your grandfather to have an accurate assessment of his skills, a neuropsych assessment will tell you a great deal. Contact the best teaching hospital in your area and ask for the geriatrics department. They should be able to guide you.
We got far better care for my mom from a geriatrics doc than from her longtime GP.
My husband still sees our GP, but he is well tuned in to the issues he is dealing with.
Eta, it looks like Ohio State is the place you want to look.
It is helpful to get a medical diagnosis of his cognitive condition in his records. But you need to have a legal ability to help him/represent him. You can ask for the HIPAA/Medical Representative form at each doctor's clinic. Have you Grandfather write in your name, then he signs it and you submit it back to their receptionist.
If he doesn't have an assigned DPoA, then I'd work on getting this done at the same time.
A geriatrician (geriatric doc) will be very familiar with dementia and if a neurologist opinion/diagnosis would be helpful.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/anyone-have-a-loved-one-that-they-suspect-is-gaining-memory-issues-but-doctors-wont-listen-478246.htm
You received a pretty good reply from Sohenc and others said geriatric doctor/phyciatrist and another neurologist. BarbBrooklyn added, on this question, even more info about checking out a teaching college.
My mother scored an 18 on her first SLUMS administered to her while in the hospital, at my request upon suspicion of dementia being present. She was diagnosed w progressive dementia then, which was spot on, thought to be vascular in nature, with a 5 yr life expectancy to it, give or take. She passed 6 yrs later, getting progressively worse, just as indicated by the SLUMS score.
Best of luck.