Matthew J. Wynn

Background: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease and is one of the most common causes of dementia in people under 65. There is often a significant diagnostic delay, as FTD can be confused with other psychiatric conditions. A lack of knowledge regarding FTD by health professionals is one possible cause for this diagnostic confusion. Objectives: The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Frontotemporal Dementia Knowledge Scale (FTDKS) in Spanish. Methods: A translation was done, following cross-cultural adaptation guidelines, which consisted of forward translation, blind back translation, and an analysis by a committee of experts. For the present study, 134 professionals from different health areas responded the Spanish version of the FTDKS. The statistical analysis was performed using R version 4.0.0 “Arbor day” and the Psych, sjPlot packages. Results: The Spanish version of the FTDKS had good reliability and internal consistency (Cronbach alpha 0.74.). The sample's mean score was 19.78 (range = 4-32, SD 6.3) out of a maximum of 36 points. Conclusions: The results obtained show that the Spanish version has good psychometric properties. The FTDKS is applicable in our environment and can be a useful tool to evaluate the knowledge of health professionals regarding frontotemporal dementia.

Objective: Purpose in life tends to decline in older adulthood and it is thought that intact cognitive functioning is required for purposeful living. Thus, it is likely that individuals may perceive older adults who are experiencing cognitive declines associated with dementia as having a reduced sense of purpose. Biases such as these may influence how individuals, especially care partners, interact with those with dementia.Method: This study examined how sense of purpose changed following a dementia diagnostic appointment for both the person receiving a diagnosis and their care partner. This study also explored how each individual perceived the other member of the dyad’s sense of purpose. Older adults (47 care recipients and 75 care partners, 57% female; M_age = 68.5 years, SD_age = 12.0 years) provided self- and other-report ratings of sense of purpose before and after their appointment at a specialized memory clinic.Results: Overall, both care recipients and care partners’ sense of purpose declined following a dementia diagnostic appointment [t(85) = 7.01, p < 0.001]. However, when comparing self-reports and other-reports of purpose, care partners reported that care recipients experienced a lower sense of purpose in life than the care recipients reported about themselves.Conclusions: Care recipients and partners reported less purpose in life following their dementia diagnostic appointment. Care partners may hold certain biases regarding sense of purpose toward care recipients. These findings can inform future work regarding how care recipients and care partners can plan purposeful lives following a dementia diagnosis.

Previous research suggests some psychologists may not consider academic careers because of doubts about their teaching competency, and this is especially true for psychologists interested in aging (i.e., geropsychologists). To enhance competencies in the practice of education, we developed a webinar series, Advancing Your Confidence as an Educator, to bolster skills and attitudes toward teaching and improve attitudes about careers in aging. Seven hour-long webinars addressed key skills in developing and executing courses and professional presentations, and 2 panel sessions addressed attitudes toward teaching by featuring early- and later-career professionals discussing their paths to and satisfaction with jobs as educators. Attendance across the highly interactive sessions was robust (M = 50). Evaluation data suggest the webinar was effective in meeting educational needs. To promote sustainable impact, the webinars are archived and freely available online. Challenges in marketing and evaluation arose, but overall, this effort is one way of cultivating a more vigorous interest and self-confidence in teaching.

Comments on an article by S. F. Lang and B. J. Fowers (see record 2018-24691-001). In Lang and Fowers' (2019) article, they provide multiple arguments for why dementia caregiving persists despite the seemingly great evolutionary risk. Adding to their list of considerations, the current commentary provides another potential explanation, namely, that individuals may enact dementia caregiving because it provides engagement toward purposeful aims. Having a sense of purpose predicts multiple evolutionary benefits, including greater longevity, and we discuss here 2 routes by which dementia caregiving may fulfill the role of purposeful engagement. First, it provides a mechanism for suiting some individuals' broader goals of helping others in need. Second, it may allow individuals an opportunity for reflection upon what constitutes personally meaningful pursuits. The commentary ends with a consideration of why adding purpose to the discussion of dementia caregiving can assist researchers and practice professionals interested in helping promote caregiver well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: The Verbal Naming Test (VNT) is a nonvisual measure of word finding with stimuli chosen based on rare frequency of usage in spoken English. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the VNT and test the feasibility of telephone administration. In addition, regression-based normative data were obtained for the VNT as well as other measures. Method: Eighty-one community-dwelling older adults 61–92 years old (mean = 74.19 years) completed the VNT, the Naming subtests of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB), the WIAT-III Sentence Repetition subtest, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results: As evidence of construct validity, the VNT had large correlations with the NAB Naming test and medium correlations with the MoCA and WIAT-III Sentence Repetition test. Cronbach’s alpha in this sample was 0.621. Age, education, and gender were entered into linear regression equations and regression-based normative equations are presented. Lastly, administration of the VNT over the telephone was found to be feasible. Conclusions: The VNT is a valid measure of naming among community-dwelling older adults. Regression-based normative data for the measure will enable its use in the neuropsychological assessment of naming with a wide range of older adults.

Receiving a diagnosis of dementia has major implications. Although protocols for disclosing difficult information have been developed for other health conditions, no such evidence-based method exists for dementia. As a step toward that goal, this study analyzed the discourse within dementia diagnosis disclosure sessions to identify conversational features associated with psychological outcomes. The Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) was used to code the discourse among patients, their companions, and providers during 84 dementia diagnosis disclosure sessions following an initial evaluation at an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Providers dominated the conversation in terms of overall time spent talking. With more severe dementia, patients spoke less and companions spoke more. Provider-positive rapport building was associated with lower patient depression and anxiety following the disclosure session. Patient-positive rapport building was associated with higher companion anxiety, but only when the patient was not suspected to have dementia. No associations were found between other types of discourse and patient or companion psychological outcomes. A relatively small amount of positive rapport building by providers can lead to reduced distress following dementia disclosure. Dementia disclosure best practices should emphasize patient-centered communication techniques in order to minimize psychological distress following diagnosis.