The BASELINE Checklists
As much as there is a danger of dementia going unnoticed, it is important to know when it is not there
Diagnostic overshadowing is where symptoms of other illnesses or conditions end up looking like dementia.
The BASELINE Checklists™ are designed to help carers and clinicians tell the difference
One of the biggest challenges in dementia care is recognising that not everything that looks like dementia is dementia.
Changes in memory, behaviour, communication, mood, motivation, sleep, daily function, or engagement can understandably raise concerns. But many illnesses and conditions can create changes that look remarkably similar.
Pain. Depression. Hearing loss. Sleep apnoea. Delirium. Medication side effects etc...
The question is not only:
"What has changed?"
Sometimes the more important question is:
"What else could explain this?"
That principle sits at the centre of the BASELINE System.
To support this process, we developed two levels of checklist:
• The BASELINE Carer Checklist designed for carers, families and support staff to help identify meaningful changes, compare them against a person's usual baseline, and consider possible confounding factors.
• The BASELINE Clinician Checklist designed for clinicians and professionals including GPs, nurses, managers and other practitioners who may need a more detailed differential thinking approach to guide assessment and decision making.
At Arraglen Training we teach our learners to master the the BASELINE System, because better outcomes often begin with asking better questions.