Week 13

            I was very interested in the section about the MSE, particularly the mini MSE, because I have often seen the results of this assessment when I work with my patients through my hospice job.  With my patients, the test is typically done by a social worker in a skilled care facility.  And as was indicated in our text, the mini MSE is repeated fairly regularly with all the patients.  This has been a good way to track any changes in cognition, which is something that many patients experience as they age and near the end of their lives. 

            Additionally, our hospice has recently switched to electronic charting and assessing.  All nurses, social workers, and spiritual care personnel now do assessments using a tablet similar to an iPad that is loading with software that takes us through specific questions regarding anxiety, depression, bereavement risk, and suicide risk for example.  Although I am not aware of the questions being from one of the semi-structured interview assessments listed in our text, they function in much the same way.  A question will appear on my tablet that I must ask the patient or family and depending on their answer another particular question will populate the screen. I am free to ask additional questions as needed, but I must ask each question that is populated on the screen or the program does not allow me to proceed with my visit documentation or close out the visit.  The same beginning questions must be asked for each patient as part of a comprehensive assessment tool.  At the completion of my assessment, the software program will flag some individuals as high, medium, or low risk for certain criteria. 

            I have found the assessment software to be very helpful in that it encourages a thoroughness that is helpful as we design interventions and measure any progress as a result of our interventions.  When we as clinicians used paper forms for our assessment, we were not prompted with particular questions or funneled into different sets of questions depending on the patient’s responses.  Therefore I have found the computer assessment tool to be much more helpful.  I wonder if there is similar software that clinicians in the mental health or counseling field could use for some of the assessments listed in our text.  The ease of use and the quick access to past assessments, seem to be a great advantage.

Reference

Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.