Case Studies, Report Writing and Ethics in Neuropsychology

Recommended Prerequisites

Neuropsychological Assessment: Children and Adolescents; Neuropsychological Assessment: Adults and Older Adults

Teaching Methods

1. Presentation of the course objectives, teaching and evaluation methodologies and syllabus.

2. Oral presentation and teaching of the syllabus using different types of materials: visual (for example, powerpoint), audiovisual (for example, video) and bibliographic.

3. Presentation of case studies, neuropsychological reports and discussion of texts (clinical cases, reports, ethics in Clinical Neuropsychology).

4. Conducting neuropsychological reporting exercises in the classroom.

Learning Outcomes

Objectives:

1. Provide a broad and integrated view of the assessment and intervention process in Clinical Neuropsychology, considering:

1.1. the Case Studies (classic, current), identifying injuries and / or cognitive dysfunction, the respective neuroanatomical bases, their impacts on activities of daily living.

1.2.  the writing of Reports, recognizing their structure and complexity.

1.3. the Ethical and Deontological issues.

2. Skills to develop:

2.1. Critical reading and preparation of case studies, covering different ages and representative clinical conditions.

2.2. Administration, scoring and interpretation of test results and data from other instruments and techniques of the neuropsychological assessment.

2.3. Writing of neuropsychological assessment reports.

2.4. Understand the importance and recognize the presence of ethical issues and dilemmas in Clinical Neuropsychology specific to the exercise of the assessment and intervention (eg, rehabilitation).

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Clinical case studies. Classic cases and actual case studies. The study of normal anatomy and function, the impact of a single lesion on several different neural structures and pathways, the integration of knowledge of disparate functional systems, neuropsychological disorders and anatomical correlations.

2. Neuropsychological Reports. General principles. Sections: Identifying Information and Reason for Referral; Background Information/History; Tests Administered; Behavioral Observations; Test Results/Interpretations; Summary and Conclusions; Formulation/Conceptualization and Diagnostic Impressions;Recommendations.

3. Case studies and neuropsychological reports: Specific Learning Disabilities; Depression; Epilepsy; Traumatic Brain Injury; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Alzheimer Disease; Evaluation for treatment planning in rehabilitation.

4. Ethics. An Ethical Decision-Making Model in Assessment and Rehabilitation in Clinical Neuropsychology.

Head Lecturer(s)

Mário Manuel Rodrigues Simões

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Synthesis work: 30.0%
Individual written work: Case Report (with neuropsychological assessment protocol and substantiated recommendation for any specific intervention proposal (rehabilitation and / or psychotherapy): 70.0%

Bibliography

Apps, J.,Newby, R.,& Roberts, L.(Eds.) (2008). Pediatric neuropsychology case studies.Springer

Blumenfeld,H. (2010). Neuroanatomy through Clinical Cases (2nd ed.). Sinauer Associates.

Bush, S. (2018). Ethical Decision Making in Clinical Neuropsychology (2nd ed.). OUP.

Code, C., Wallesch, C.-W., Joanette, Y., & Lecours, A.(Eds.) (1996/2003). Classic Cases in Neuropsychology (Vols. I & II).Psychology Press.

Donders, J. (Ed.) (2016). Neuropsychological report writing.Guilford.

Macniven,J. (Ed.) (2016). Neuropsychological Formulation: A clinical casebook.Springer.

Morgan, J., Baron, I., & Ricker, J. (Eds.) (2011). Casebook of clinical neuropsychology. OUP.

Moroni, C. & Narme, P. (Dir.) (2016). 20 cas cliniques en neuropsychologie.Dunod.

Postal, K., & Armstrong, K. (2013). Feedback that sticks: The art of effectively communicating neuropsychological assessment results. OUP.

Stucky, K.& Bush, S. (2017). The Neuropsychology fact-finding casebook:A training resource.Cambridge Univ. Press.