Main description:

The Profiling Communication Ability in Dementia (P-CAD) tool assesses the cognitive communication abilities of individuals with dementia. It facilitates speech & language therapists (SLTs) in all health care settings to assess and manage communication disorders associated with dementia. It is intended that P-CAD will inform care pathways on communication and be of benefit to the interdisciplinary team in supporting decision-making.

Administration

The P-CAD Pack contains

P-CAD Manual (ISBN 9781788494168)
P-CAD Picture and Reading Stimulus Book (ISBN 9781788494175)
20 x P-CAD Assessment booklets (ISBN 9781788493956)

The assessment booklet has comprehensive instructions that facilitate ease of administration. It takes 30 mins to administer and 5-10 mins to score. A communication partner is involved in the assessment session and their communication skills are also evaluated in the conversation abilities section.

Purpose and Benefits

can be administered by Speech & Language Therapists/Speech Pathologists and cognitive communication specialists
profiles communication abilities and directs individualised advice, support and therapy
evaluates core competencies for everyday communication: auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading, writing and conversation skills. These competencies then inform the communication profile.
helps determine the most effective communication support strategies
involves a short interview with the communication partner to identify communication strengths and challenges
identifies if the person needs minimum, moderate or maximum communication support
tracks changes in communication over time, measuring the impact of interventions

Validation Outcomes

P-CAD has been validated with people with early, mid and late-stage dementia and their communication partners. It provides clinicians with a tool that can be used with all subtypes and at all stages of dementia. The participants with dementia (n=100) were assessed in a variety of setting and locations including care homes and domiciliary home settings representative of where people with dementia live and interface with SLTs.

The validation study found positive and strong correlations with the Mini Mental State Examination 2 (MMSE-2) (rho=0.812, p<0.001), a measure of cognition, and the Functional Linguistic Communication Inventory (FLCI) (rho=0.828, p<0.001), a cognitive communication assessment. P-CAD scores fall as Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) levels increase, indicating parallels between cognitive decline and reduced communication ability in dementia. There were highly significant correlations between two raters on total P-CAD scoring as well as all eight P-CAD subtests, indicating strong reliability.