DIAGNOSTIC UNIT
The Ace Diagnostic Unit is a Catalan Health Service provider and shares its reports with CatSalut’s shared clinical history. It’s made up of a team of professionals which aims to make timely interdisciplinary diagnoses, while getting the patient actively involved in the process of diagnosing, treating and monitoring cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, to ensure personalized care completely tailored to their needs.
The diagnosis at Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona is obtained through an interdisciplinary clinical process that includes five visits for the comprehensive assessment of the person and their environment, and culminates in a personalized intervention plan. At Ace, we address the person’s needs holistically through the various specialists involved.
Our diagnostic team is made up of specialists in neurology, geriatrics, neuropsychology, nursing, and social work.
- Social work: interview with the family or social support network to assess social situation and needs.
- Neuropsychological assessment.
- Clinical family visit with the neurologist or geriatrician.
- Clinical assessment of the user with the neurologist or geriatrician.
- Consensus meeting for diagnosis and design of the intervention plan.
- Communication of the diagnosis and therapeutic guidance.
Once the diagnosis is communicated, a personalized follow-up plan is initiated at the Diagnostic Unit of Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona. This follow-up is ongoing and includes both the person being assessed and their environment as an essential part of the intervention.
The follow-up visit consists of a multidisciplinary assessment of the clinical process by Ace specialists, in which the Social Work department plays a central role. Social assessment and support are part of the intervention from the very beginning and are not considered a supplementary resource but rather inherent to the care process.
In exceptional and/or critical situations, family members, caregivers, and Ace users can urgently contact the nursing team, their neurologist, geriatrician, or social worker to ensure timely, quality care.
This protocol enables resolving crisis situations and providing accurate information that guides toward a solution and reduces the sense of anguish in users and caregivers of people with cognitive impairment.
The contingency support service can address everything from questions about medication to matters related to the legal procedures for applying for state assistance.
These inquiries are handled during a specific time slot every day and can be submitted by phone or by email.
Check your memory
ONLINE FACEMEMORY®
The first validated, self-administered test to assess your memory performance.
IN-PERSON
If you’re over 50 and concerned about your memory, request your free check-up.
Our medical team at the Ace Diagnostic Unit is comprised of neurologists and geriatricians specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
The challenge for our neurologists is to identify and diagnose as early as possible people with cognitive impairment or who are at risk of developing it. The geriatrician, on the other hand, evaluates older adults in whom cognitive impairment may be related to other conditions.
After the visit with the Social Work department, the neurologist conducts a clinical interview with the family so they can explain the reason for the consultation and the clinical history. This visit helps the neurologist or geriatrician relate the symptoms that the family has noticed and that the person being evaluated might deny or overlook.
During a second visit, the neurological examination is performed. This is an intervention in which the neurologist examines the person with cognitive impairment to assess signs and symptoms and relate them to the data obtained during the previous visit.
Finally, in the diagnostic consensus session, each professional on the multidisciplinary team contributes the data collected in their assessment (neurological, neuropsychological, functional, etc.) in order to jointly establish a consensus diagnosis, as well as the most appropriate type of treatment, lifestyle recommendations, preventive measures, and psychosocial resources or support, if applicable.
Neuropsychological assessment is part of the diagnostic process to evaluate the user’s cognitive functions, behavior, and emotional state.
The Ace Neuropsychological Battery (NBACE©) is used, a test validated in our target population that assesses the different cognitive domains (orientation to reality, cognitive processing speed, attention, memory, language, visual gnoses, visuospatial ability, praxies, and executive functions) that are involved in the Alzheimer’s or dementia process. In addition, anxiety and depressive symptoms are assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The neuropsychological visit lasts 50 minutes.
With the goal of making it easy for anyone over the age of 50 to request a free in-person or video-call memory assessment to learn about their cognitive performance, Ace offers the Early Detection Program (EDP).
Everyone can have their memory checked for free, conveniently from their own home, using FACEmemory®.
This initiative was launched in 2008 and has already assessed more than 4,500 people, completely free of charge and without the need for a referral from a family doctor. The PDP includes various tools designed to reach more people, such as the Punto App, community initiatives, and participation in European projects like MOPEAD and SCAP-AD, as well as a validated, self-administered online memory test developed by our team of neuropsychologists. To participate, simply register by calling 93 430 47 20 or by sending an email to memoria@fundacioace.org.
Contribute towards making Alzheimer’s disease a thing of the past
Social work brings a social perspective that helps understand how illness impacts daily life and supports families in gradually adapting to their new reality.
At the first visit, in addition to explaining the diagnostic process, the social worker assesses the family’s social situation, from the family’s knowledge of the illness to the current presence of caregivers, the possibility of new caregivers emerging, the family’s organization, and care expectations. This assessment complements the clinical diagnosis and helps anticipate potential difficulties or future needs. It is preventive in nature and helps the team gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation to better guide intervention.
Social monitoring
Once the diagnosis is established, social work supports the family or caregivers by providing education about the illness and coping strategies, guiding them in role restructuring, decision-making, and in resources and benefits that can facilitate the caregiving process.
Support is provided proactively to help make decisions before crises or urgent needs arise. The goal is to ensure competent and safe care for both the person with dementia and their caregivers. We do this through interviews, the provision of written materials, training courses, and support groups.