Memory, thinking & dementia care · Gold Coast Changes in memory and thinking: assessment, understanding and support.
For adults who have noticed changes in their memory or thinking, and for families supporting someone with cognitive change or a diagnosis. Also for anyone with a family history of dementia who wants to look after their own brain health. Assessment when it is needed, and care that continues afterwards.
GP, geriatrician or psychiatrist? Make a professional referral.
- Who this is for
- Adults noticing changes in memory or thinking, people living with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, their partners and families, and people with a family history of dementia.
- What it can clarify
- Whether changes fit normal ageing, mild cognitive impairment, dementia or another contributor such as mood, sleep or medication, and what will help.
- What you receive
- A clear explanation, a written report shared with your doctor with your consent, and care that continues: strategies, therapy and support for the family.
- Format
- A clinical interview, a testing session (a morning or an afternoon, sometimes split in two) and a feedback appointment; therapy and family sessions in person or by telehealth.
- Next step
- Request an appointment, book a 15-minute discovery call, or ask your doctor to refer.
Not every change in memory is dementia, and a diagnosis is not the end of the story. A detailed cognitive assessment can clarify the picture. What follows is care: understanding what is happening, keeping thinking skills and independence, and support for you and your family through change.
Many things affect memory and thinking: normal ageing, stress, low mood, poor sleep, pain, medication and physical illness, as well as mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Dementia is an umbrella term for conditions with many causes: Alzheimer's disease, cerebrovascular disease, Lewy body and Parkinson's-related conditions, the frontotemporal dementias and primary progressive aphasias, and less common causes. Mixed causes are frequent, and dementia can begin before 65.
When an assessment may help
Is this normal ageing, or worth an assessment?
Common with ageing
- Occasionally misplacing things
- Slower recall of names
- Needing more reminders
Worth an assessment
- Forgetting recent conversations or events entirely
- Repeating the same questions
- Getting lost or confused on familiar routes
- Trouble managing finances, appointments or medication
- Changes in language, planning or judgement
- Changes in personality, self-care, or getting along with others
- A family member has noticed a change, or changes at work in someone under 65
Changes on this list do not mean dementia. Wanting to understand what is happening is reason enough to ask, and so is worry about a parent or partner.
What it clarifies
What an assessment can clarify
- Whether changes in memory or thinking sit within normal limits for age, or beyond them, and how marked they are
- The cognitive profile: which abilities are stronger or weaker than expected across memory, attention, language, visuospatial skills and executive function
- Whether that profile is more consistent with mild cognitive impairment, a dementia, or neither, and which type of dementia it may point towards
- Reversible or treatable contributors, such as depression, poor sleep, pain or medication effects
- Practical implications for everyday function, decision-making and driving, and a baseline for future comparison
A brief memory screen at your GP is a valuable first step but is not designed to say what is going on. The final medical diagnosis is made by your doctor, drawing together our report with your history, examination and investigations.
How we help
Care that continues beyond the assessment
Understanding what is happening
Assessment when it is needed, from a targeted consultation for a specific question to a comprehensive assessment for differential diagnosis. Whatever the result, you and your family receive a plain-language explanation and a report your doctor can act on. Where change over time is the question, we review against your own baseline.
Keeping thinking skills and independence
Practical strategies for memory and everyday tasks: routines, reminders, aids and the way the home is organised, taught and practised so that they stick. Guidance on the habits that protect brain health: physical activity, hearing and vision, sleep, mood, social connection, and blood pressure and diabetes care. Planning for driving, work and finances while the person can still take part in the decisions, including enduring documents and capacity.
Support for you: adjustment, mood, grief and change
Psychological therapy for the anxiety and low mood that often accompany cognitive change, for coming to terms with a diagnosis, and for the grief and loss that follow. Support through transitions such as stopping work or driving, or a move to supported living.
Support for families and carers
Understanding the condition and what to expect, how to communicate and help without taking over, and what to do when behaviour changes. Where dementia brings behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD), we contribute behavioural assessment and non-drug strategies to the team caring for the person. Carers can see us in their own right, for their own stress, grief and decisions.
A family history of dementia
For people with a parent or sibling with dementia: a baseline assessment if you want one, and a clear conversation about what family history does and does not mean for the common forms of dementia. We also cover the changes that lower risk. The 2024 Lancet Commission linked nearly half of dementia cases worldwide to fourteen modifiable risk factors, including hearing loss, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, social isolation, depression and untreated vision loss.
Answering the clinical question
How different cognitive patterns can inform diagnosis
No single memory test can diagnose dementia or say which kind it is. The pattern of affected and preserved skills helps your doctor weigh the possibilities. Select a condition group.
Alzheimer's disease, typical and atypical
Typically, difficulty forming and retaining new memories comes first. Atypical forms are easy to miss: posterior cortical atrophy affects visual processing before memory, and the logopenic variant presents through word-finding and sentence repetition.
Cerebrovascular cognitive disorders
Slowed thinking and reduced attention, planning and mental stamina, often with memory comparatively spared, after strokes or with small vessel disease. Vascular and Alzheimer changes frequently occur together, and vascular risk factors are treatable.
Frontotemporal dementias, including the behavioural variant
The behavioural (frontal) variant typically begins between the 40s and 60s, with changes in personality, judgement, empathy or motivation while memory is relatively preserved. It is often mistaken for depression or stress.
Primary progressive aphasias (language-led dementias)
Language changes before memory: speech may become effortful, word meanings may erode, or word-finding and repetition may falter. Each pattern points to a different variant and guides speech pathology and communication strategies.
Parkinson's, Lewy body and related conditions
Fluctuating attention, changes in visual and spatial thinking and slowed processing. We assess these patterns regularly through our Parkinson's and movement-disorder work.
Alcohol-related and other less common causes
Long-term heavy alcohol use can produce lasting memory and executive difficulties (including Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome) which can stabilise or partly improve with abstinence and treatment.
Conditions that can look like dementia
Mood, anxiety, sleep, pain and medication effects can affect attention and memory. In functional cognitive disorder the symptoms are genuine but the pattern indicates a non-degenerative cognitive difficulty. Some changes sit within the range expected for age.
Under 65
Younger-onset dementia
Dementia diagnosed before 65 is called younger-onset dementia. The first signs often appear at work and are commonly put down to stress, depression, burnout or menopause, so diagnosis is frequently delayed. Comprehensive assessment gives your doctor the cognitive evidence to pursue, or set aside, a younger-onset diagnosis. Ongoing support for people under 65 is generally through the NDIS rather than aged care.
What is involved
What an assessment involves
- Clinical interview. What has changed, when it began, and the health, mood, sleep, medication and life context around it.
- Family or informant discussion, with consent. Someone who knows you well often notices changes that are hard to describe yourself.
- Standardised testing. A morning or an afternoon, sometimes split across two visits, with breaks as needed.
- Scoring and interpretation. Results are scored against what is expected for your age and background and interpreted alongside your history.
- Feedback and report. The findings are explained in plain language to you and, if you wish, your family. You receive a written report, which goes to your doctor with your consent. Urgent findings are phoned through.
Whatever the outcome, you receive a plain-language explanation, a written report, practical recommendations and a measured starting point. A clear baseline today makes any future change easier to recognise.
Preparing
Being rested helps. Bring glasses and hearing aids if you use them, a list of current medications, and any previous reports or scans. There is nothing to study for, and an interpreter can be arranged where needed. Our what to expect page shows what each appointment is like.
Request an appointmentCost & logistics
Fees, referral and telehealth
Referral
No referral is needed for a privately funded assessment; you or a family member can contact us directly. GPs and specialists can refer through our referrer page, and funded pathways have their own referral or approval steps.
Comprehensive assessment for differential diagnosis
The full assessment, conducted by our endorsed clinical neuropsychologists, including Dr Stephen Lee: interview, informant discussion, comprehensive testing, feedback and a detailed written report. This is the right pathway for most people, and for anyone whose history is complex or where medical, psychiatric or psychosocial factors may be contributing. The fee depends on the scope, with a written estimate before booking and a booking fee credited to the total. Qualifications and registration are on the team page; how fees are calculated is on our fees and policies page.
Targeted neuropsychological consultation, from $800
For referring specialists and GPs who need a specific question answered to assist differential diagnosis, or a review against an earlier baseline. A focused interview and testing of the thinking skills relevant to the question, not memory alone, with a letter of findings and recommendations to the referring doctor. It is a letter, not a comprehensive diagnostic report. A clinical neuropsychologist recommends the level of assessment that fits each referral.
Therapy, strategies and family sessions
Charged per session, with the plan agreed at the start. Psychological therapy may attract a Medicare rebate under Better Access with a mental health treatment plan from your GP or psychiatrist, where a condition such as depression or anxiety has been diagnosed. Family members and carers can be seen in their own right. NDIS funding may apply for people under 65 with a diagnosis, and DVA funding with a medical referral.
Medicare, funding and telehealth
There is no Medicare rebate for a neuropsychological assessment, including under the Better Access program. NDIS, DVA, WorkCover or insurer funding may apply where eligible and approved in writing. NDIS funding does not usually cover assessment whose primary purpose is diagnosing dementia. Interviews, feedback and therapy are routinely available by telehealth, and in some instances the assessment itself can also be completed by telehealth.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a referral for a memory assessment?
No. Many people are referred by their GP or geriatrician, and many families contact us directly for a privately funded assessment. Funded pathways such as the NDIS, DVA or WorkCover have their own referral or approval steps.
How much does a memory assessment cost?
A comprehensive assessment for differential diagnosis is quoted individually, with a written estimate before booking. Where a specialist or GP refers with a specific question, a targeted neuropsychological consultation and letter starts from $800. There is no standard Medicare rebate for neuropsychological assessment.
Can my partner or a family member come with me?
Yes. Many people bring a family member to the interview and the feedback appointment. Testing is done one to one, so that the results reflect your own abilities.
What happens if it is not dementia?
That is a common and useful outcome. The assessment often identifies contributors that can be addressed, such as mood, sleep, pain or medication effects, and it provides a baseline for future comparison.
We already have a diagnosis. What help is there now?
Practical strategies to keep memory and independence working as well as they can. Psychological therapy for adjustment, mood and grief. Sessions for the family on what to expect and how to help. Review against an earlier assessment is available where change is a question.
My mother has dementia. Can you help me support her?
Yes. We see partners, children and carers in their own right. Sessions cover understanding the condition and what is likely ahead, changes in behaviour and communication, planning for decisions and transitions, and your own stress and grief. A mental health treatment plan from your GP or psychiatrist may cover part of the cost.
Will I get a diagnosis on the day?
No. After the testing has been scored and interpreted, we explain the findings in a feedback discussion. The final medical diagnosis is made by your doctor.
Can the assessment decide whether I can keep driving?
The findings inform your doctor's view of medical fitness to drive, but the assessment does not by itself determine licensing or driving clearance. An occupational therapy driving assessment may also be required, and the licensing decision rests with the licensing authority.
Request an appointment
Tell us what you have noticed, or what you and your family are facing. Our team and a psychologist review every request, and we reply by email within two working days with the right starting point, an assessment, a consultation or support, and the fee. A referral is not required for a private appointment.
GP or specialist? Make a referral · Phone enquiries are welcome during business hours on 0452 452 262; if we are with a client, please leave a message and we will call you back.
Request an appointment Book a 15-minute discovery callSources: Dementia Australia, Assessment and diagnosis of dementia; Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Silver Book, Part A: Dementia; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Dementia: assessment, management and support (NG97); Livingston G, et al., Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. This page is general information, not medical advice.