The Relay of Neuropsychological Information: Providing Feedback

Providing neuropsychological feedback to older adults is a situation that poses recognizable obstacles for many clinicians. With thoughtful preparation, the feedback session can help patients and care partners cross the bridge from assessment and diagnosis to intervention or accommodation. The present chapter aims to give a process-oriented overview of feedback, focusing on the step-by-step sequences clinicians ought to observe. The chapter also includes tips and discussion points surrounding important logistics, such as crafting a welcoming and supportive environment and attempting to maximize the patient’s understanding and retention of results and next steps. The chapter uses the case of an older woman and her family’s journey through the feedback process to highlight key topics and put common dilemmas and solutions into context. Tasks to undertake before providing feedback that, when completed, will enhance its effectiveness are followed by a description of how to provide feedback, laying out the essentials of giving in-person, verbal feedback. The chapter concludes with future considerations for both research and practice.