When a 60-year-old tells her nurse she’s been forgetting things—a dinner night with friends, a neighbor’s name, or to call for a grandchild’s birthday, for instance—the nurse may respond several different ways: The nurse might show concern and order follow-up tests, minimize the worry as normal aging, discount it as a depressive moment, or more.
Moments like this present an important opportunity for health care providers to intervene at a time when these patients may be experiencing the early symptoms of cognitive decline. A researcher from the Penn State College of Nursing is leading…
