Integrating Neuropsychological Assessment into a Multidisciplinary Adult Protective Service Model - Justin Gauthier, PhD, Alexis Olson, PhD, & Erik Lande, PhD

Vulnerable adults are susceptible to a variety of problems that could affect their safety and well-being (e.g., financial abuse, self- or other-neglect). Often, these problems have cognitive components and result in report to County Adult Protective Services (APS) for assessment and intervention services. A novel practice in APS agencies is to include neuropsychological assessment as part of an integrative and multidisciplinary team approach to APS assessment and intervention efforts. In our model, adults referred to The County of Ventura APS agency and suspected to have cognitive impairment based upon results of an administration of a cognitive screening tool, social worker observation, and an in-home assessment by the Public Health Nurse, were referred to a multidisciplinary team to determine what further assessments and interventions, such as neuropsychological assessment, were warranted, and then to quickly provide these services in the client’s home. In this workshop we will provide an overview of our multidisciplinary model, discuss its development, stakeholders, roles, and responsibilities, and present initial data, including that on client referral problems, mental health diagnoses and assessment data, APS interventions, and outcomes, which were collected throughout the span of the APS and neuropsychological process. A focus of this workshop will be on the specialized role of psychologists and the utility of neuropsychological assessment data to other professionals and the integrated multidisciplinary model.