Because culture has an important role in how various symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive concerns are expressed and manifested, it is important to integrate relevant cultural factors in the evaluation.

“It is important to integrate relevant cultural factors in the evaluation”

Recommendations for addressing cultural factors include (Vila-Castelar, 2022):

  • Consider cultural factors during clinical diagnostic evaluations.
  • Clinicians should follow proposed cultural guidelines, standards, and clinical frameworks such as the ECLECTIC framework for conducting a neuropsychological evaluation with a culturally diverse client (Fujii, 2018).
  • Cultural factors, including cultural values and identity, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language, educational attainment, occupational history, and immigration history, should be integrated into clinical evaluations.
  • Consideration of cultural and linguistic factors, including acculturation, education, literacy, and bilingualism, can facilitate selection of cognitive measures and norms, assessment of functional abilities, and clinical case conceptualization and diagnosis. 
  • Following the evaluation, culturally relevant and appropriate recommendations should be provided.  

Evaluate | Approaches to Implement

Diagnostic Overview | Explain the Importance of a Diagnostic Evaluation | Components of a Diagnostic Evaluation | Culturally Competent Approaches to Evaluations | Identify Conditions Underlying Dementia | Document the Diagnosis | Disclose the Diagnosis | Evaluate References