Screening Adults with Down's Syndrome for Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Given the now well‐recognised risk of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) for adults with Down's Syndrome (DS) as they reach middle age, services for people with learning disability (LD) need to meet this new challenge. Good practice guidance from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (Turk et al, 2001) recommended that every service for people with learning disability should set up a register of adults with DS, conduct a baseline assessment of cognitive and adaptive functioning before the age of 30 years, develop specialist skills in this area, offer training to other professionals, front‐line staff and carers, and seek high‐quality co‐ordination between agencies. This article reports the progress of one LD service in meeting these challenges, highlighting the successes and difficulties that may guide other teams considering such a development.

Citation

McBrien, J., Whitwham, S., Olverman, K. and Masters, S. (2005), "Screening Adults with Down's Syndrome for Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease", Tizard Learning Disability Review, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/13595474200500035