The Clinician's Guide to Geriatric Forensic Evaluations

The Clinician's Guide to Geriatric Forensic Evaluations provides practical guidance to clinicians performing forensic evaluations on older adults. The book begins with how geriatric forensic evaluations differ from those done on non-geriatric adults. DSM-5 criteria for neurocognitive disorders are discussed and differentiated from the previous criteria in DSM-IV. Coverage includes assessing decision-making capacity/competence and evaluating undue influence, elder abuse, and financial exploitation. Each chapter opens with a case study and then highlights specific assessment techniques, best practices, and common pitfalls to avoid. The book additionally covers forensic report writing, court testimony, and when to refer to an outside independent expert. Samples of geriatric forensic reports are provided.
- Provides practical information on performing geriatric forensic evaluations
- Identifies DSM-5 criteria for neurocognitive disorders
- Includes assessing decision-making capacity/competence, undue influence, elder abuse, and financial exploitation
- Features assessment strategies, case studies, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid
- Advises on report writing and court testimony

Karen Reimers, MD, FRCPC, is board certified in psychiatry in the United States and Canada. She is an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Reimers is active in clinical, teaching, and consulting roles and is an expert witness for contested wills and trusts, cognitive impairment, and undue influence. She is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. Her interest in geriatric forensic evaluations arose out of her clinical practice with elderly patients, after having been involved in decisions about capacity to consent to treatment, driving capacity, guardianship, and other medicolegal questions.

1. Introduction to geriatric forensic evaluations2. Ethical and legal issues3. Evaluation of cognitive impairment4. Evaluation of decision-making capacity and guardianship5. Evaluation of elder abuse and financial exploitation 6. Geriatric forensic report writing and testimony7. Afterword Appendix1: SAMPLE PSYCHIATRIC REPORT2: Sample Report: Competency to Stand Trial (CST)3: Clinician's Guide to the Geriatric Forensic Interview4: Montreal Cognitive Assessment