Jargon buster
We try not to use jargon or acronyms as we know this makes things difficult for people to understand. This page is here to help with any difficult words or abbreviations you encounter on your journey with us.
A
ACE / Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination
A test to help us understand cognitive impairment in relation to memory problems.
ACP / Annual care plan
Each year of your journey with the service we will review your needs and create an annual care plan with you. Your care plan will set out what your care and support needs are, how they will be met (including what you or anyone who cares for you will do) and what services you will receive. You will have the opportunity to be fully involved in the plan and to say what your own priorities are.
ADL / Activities of Daily Living
Things you do every day to look after yourself, such as eating, washing, dressing and using the toilet.
AMR / Annual Medication Review
An appointment with one of our clinical team to review your medication and consider whether your needs have changed and whether you are taking the right amount of the right medication.
Appt
An abbreviation of appointment.
ASC / Adult Social Care
Care and support for adults who need extra help to manage their lives and be independent – including older people, people with a disability or long-term illness, people with mental health problems, and carers. Adult social care includes assessment of your needs, provision of services or allocation of funds to enable you to purchase your own care and support. It includes residential care, home care, personal assistants, day services, the provision of aids and adaptations and personal budgets.
AX / Assessment appointment
An appointment with a specialist nurse where you will have a chat and complete some tasks which help us to understand whether dementia or mild cognitive impairment are the cause of your memory problems.
C
CLW / Carer Link Worker
A member of staff with the Carers Centre, which provides support to over 3000 unpaid family and friend carers in the city of Brighton & Hove.
CRRS / Community Rapid Response Services
A service in the community where a health professional or care worker will visit you at home to help you manage a problem or provide emergency support for no more than a few days, to help you avoid going into hospital. Rapid response services may be provided by the NHS or by private organisations. You may be referred by your GP to an NHS service, or refer yourself to a private one.
D
Diagnosis
A decision made by clinical staff (doctors and nurses) about the cause of a person’s memory problems.
DSW / Dementia Support Worker
Dementia support workers are members of the Alzheimer’s Society team who offer support for people with a diagnosis of dementia and their loved ones. In the Memory Assessment Service you will receive support from Memory Support Workers.
DGHT
Abbreviation of “daughter”.
DSC / Discharge
DSC is an acronym for “discharge”. You might be discharged from the Memory Assessment Service if you decide that now is not the right time for you to engage with our service, if you move out of the Brighton and Hove area and are no longer registered with a GP in the city, or if your assessment shows that your memory problems are not related to dementia.
DNA / Did not attend
DNA is an acronym for “did not attend”. You may see this on paperwork from the Memory Assessment Service in relation to appointments that you were not able to attend.
F
FCC / First Contact Call
When you are referred to the Memory Assessment Service, a member of our team – a Memory Support Worker – will call you to discuss your needs, find out more about you and your situation, and to explain about the likely process of your journey with us. This call is referred to as your “first contact call”.
H
HAYQ / How are you questionnaire
This questionnaire is designed to help us understand your view of your quality of life. We complete this people when they are first referred to the service, , usually during the First Contact Call. We can then look at any areas of life people may need further support with. We ask people to complete the same questions again at their six month call if they receive a diagnosis of dementia. We can then compare the two results to see if the patient’s quality of life has improved, maintained or declined within that time period.
L
LWWD / Living Well With Dementia
When we talk about “living well with dementia” we mean that despite having problems with your memory, you are still you. Each person has a different experience of dementia, but we will help you focus on the things that you can still do and enjoy so that you can stay positive and live well.
In 2009 the government published a national dementia strategy called “living well with dementia”. This has been updated a number of times since this date. The most recent 10 year national dementia plan was announced in May 2022.
M
MAS / Memory Assessment Service
Our service is called Brighton and Hove Memory Assessment Service. It is sometimes referred to by the acronym MAS.
MCI / Mild cognitive impairment
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is one cause of memory problems. People with this issue notice that there is a decline in their mental abilities that develops gradually over time. One symptom is forgetfulness. Mild cognitive impairment generally doesn’t change a person’s ability to function fairly well on a daily basis. Some people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment find that their memory problems hold steady or even resolve completely. For some people, though, their memory problems eventually progress into Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. If you are connected with us at Memory Assessment Service we will be able to tell you if you have mild cognitive impairment after assessment.
MDT / Multi disciplinary team
Our nursing team is supported by experienced doctors and consultants who are part of the multidisciplinary team that considers each person’s memory assessment, diagnosis and treatment to make sure that everyone gets the help that is right for them with their memory problems.
MI / Medication initiation
This is the period of time when you are first prescribed with medicine and you begin to take it regularly.
MR / Medication review
This is when you and your doctor spend time to talk about your medication, how you are feeling and consider whether any changes are needed to the medicines you are talking.
MSW / Memory Support Worker
When you are first referred to the Memory Assessment Service, you will be allocated a Memory Support Worker who will be there to support you throughout your journey in the service. Find out more on the Memory Support Worker page
N
NCP / New care plan
A written plan that you and your Memory Support Worker will create after you have had a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Your care plan will set out what your care and support needs are, how they will be met (including what you or anyone who cares for you will do) and what services you will receive. You will have the opportunity to be fully involved in the plan and to say what your own priorities are. Your care plan will be reviewed and updated at least once a year. We call this updated plan your annual care plan.
NPA / Neuropsychological assessment
This is an assessment where we can help you to find out how well your brain is managing with thinking about things, remembering, concentrating and solving problems. It involves speaking with a doctor and sometimes also some small test using paper and pencil.
O
Outcome appointment
An appointment with one of our specialist nurses where you will be told the outcome of the assessment of your memory problems. This may include whether you have a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment.
P
PEQ / Patient experience questionnaire
A questionnaire that we ask patients to complete to give us feedback and help us understand how to maintain and improve the standard of what we do.
PFG / Patient focus group
We put patient experiences and needs at the centre of our service. One way we do this is by asking patients to share their needs in patient focus groups.
PT
An acronym for “patient”.
POC / Package of care
A package of care is an arrangement with a care provider regarding the level and frequency of care to be provided to help you live as full a life as possible in a safe way. This is an agreement between the patient, their loved ones and the care provider.
PSG / Peer support group
We host two peer support groups each month, one for people with dementia and one for people with mild cognitive impairment. Everyone who is referred to the Memory Assessment Service and diagnosed with either dementia or mild cognitive impairment is welcome to join these sessions. Find out more on peer support group page
R
RACOP / Rapid access clinic for older people
This is a clinic that is held at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton. People are referred to the clinic by their GP. The clinic is here to support older people with their health needs in a single longer appointment rather than lots of shorter appointments on different days. Sometimes people who go to this clinic will be referred to our Memory Assessment Service.
RE-AX / Reassessment
If we discover in your initial assessment with our service that you have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) we will invite you for a reassessment after 12 months to check if your situation has changed or your memory problems become more severe. At the reassessment appointment a specialist nurse will have a chat with you and complete some tasks which help us to understand more about the cause of your memory problems.
Sometimes we also invite people back for a reassessment if there were events that disrupted the initial assessment process – for example other health problems or life events.
S
SOAMHS / Specialist Older Adults Mental Health Service
The Memory Assessment Service generally helps people with mild to moderate stages of dementia. If you need extra help with your mental health and memory problems the Specialist Older Adults Mental Health Service (SOAMHS) is here to help you. The service is run by mental health specialists including doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and support workers who can support people with more severe forms of dementia.
SPFT / Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust
This is the NHS trust that provides mental health services for people in Brighton and Hove, including the Specialist Older Adults Mental Health Service (SOAMHS).
W
WL
Acronym for “waiting list”.
WDYN / What do you need questionnaire
We use this questionnaire to help us understand more about your needs as we co-create a care plan with you. It is designed to help you think about your needs and what questions you might want to ask us during a care planning appointment.
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