Cognitive Assessment via Telephone: A Scoping Review of Instruments.

OBJECTIVE: Telephone-based cognitive assessment (TBCA) has long been studied but less widely adopted in routine neuropsychological practice. Increased interest in remote neuropsychological assessment techniques in the face of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic warrants an updated review of relevant remote assessment literature. While recent reviews of videoconference-based neuropsychological applications have been published, no updated compilation of empirical TBCA research has been completed. Therefore, this scoping review offers relevant empirical research to inform clinical decision-making specific to teleneuropsychology. METHOD: Peer-reviewed studies addressing TBCA were included. Broad search terms were related to telephone, cognitive, or neuropsychological assessment and screening. After systematic searching of the PubMed and EBSCO databases, 139 relevant articles were retained. RESULTS: In total, 17 unique cognitive screening measures, 20 cognitive batteries, and 6 single-task measures were identified as being developed or adapted specifically for telephone administration. Tables summarizing the identified cognitive assessments, information on diagnostic accuracy, and comparisons to face-to-face cognitive assessment are included in supplementary materials. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, literature suggests that TBCA is a viable modality for identifying cognitive impairment in various populations. However, the mode of assessment selected clinically should reflect an understanding of the purpose, evidence, and limitations for various tests and populations. Most identified measures were developed for research application to support gross cognitive characterization and to help determine when more comprehensive testing was needed. While TBCA is not meant to replace gold-standard, face-to-face evaluation, if appropriately utilized, it can expand scope of practice, particularly when barriers to standard neuropsychological assessment occur.

Partnering to understand: an investigation of health disparity in the communities surrounding a university health sciences center.

BACKGROUND: Oklahoma's health ranking is seventh to last in America. More specifically, the health in the four zip codes surrounding the Oklahoma University Health Science Center (OUHSC) in is among the lowest in the state. The primary purpose of this study was to understand, in collaboration with community members and partners, why health disparity persists in this area. The specific aims for this study included: uncovering trends and patterns related to health in the area surrounding the OUHSC and partnering with families who live in the surrounding neighborhoods to understand perspectives regarding persistence of health disparity. METHODS: The research used community-engaged research methods including historical document reviews, windshield tours, and community member and partner interviews. RESULTS: The five themes reflecting the triangulation of data were: "they don't care" (i.e., the university and community decision-makers), "sense of mistrust," "unconducive environment," "diminished sense of community," and "wrong side of the tracks." These results suggest feelings of ineffective communication, consistently overlooked racial tension, a lack of willingness to understand, and impoverished environments as primary contributors to the persistence of health disparity. The poor health in the communities surrounding the OUHSC cannot be remedied by the availability of allied health programs alone but require relationship building, listening, and mobilizing the community.