Dementia Prevention Checklist
Introduction to the Dementia Prevention Checklist
Here is your chance to construct your individual Dementia Prevention Model by completing a Dementia Prevention Checklist. The following 23 questions are divided into six sections, each containing between two to nine questions. You will see that each question has 2 – 4 answer options. We have provided some additional information about each of these factors and presented it at the beginning of each question.
How to take the Checklist
Please read each question and each option. Click on the option that best describes you or your behavior. Each response will characterize your response as being either On Target, Near Target, or Off Target.
Some responses require a numerical answer, such as a laboratory value. Your “numbers” will determine the Target category. Other responses are descriptive, asking you to best characterize your thinking, behavior or lifestyle when answering. Your personal honesty will give you the most accurate conclusion.
Some items allow for only On Target or Off Target responses. They have no middle ground. Other items offer more leeway and will offer an option that results in a Near Target rating.
Can’t make up your mind or don’t have the information you need to answer the question? That’s why there is a Don’t Know response. Sometimes you need to gather information and return to the Checklist later.
More detail about the outcomes:
• On Target means that you are in line with the goal or best practices in that area.
• Near Target means that you are close but not quite there. For example, your blood pressure may be slightly high, your weight 10 pounds more than desirable, your Vitamin D within “normal” guidelines but not optimized for best results.
• Off Target indicates that you are currently farther away from the target than you would want to be, putting your health at risk now, as well as later. A good example would be a blood pressure of 160/120 or if you are smoking cigarettes.
Two points of information before you start the Checklist:
• In choosing “Target” as the defining term, we have purposely avoided value terms, such as good or bad. Our goal is to guide you in obtaining important facts and objective information about your own modifiable dementia risk factors, not to alarm or shame you. On the other hand, we are not willing to water down the science to the degree that it becomes meaningless. If, for example, you are presently overweight, the bottom line is that your metabolism is storing too much energy in the form of fat and is less fit than it was intended to be. Moreover, those extra pounds are raising your risk for a number of medical conditions directly tied to dementia.
• This checklist and all of its information is presented as a guide; it is not intended as medical advice. It does not replace personalized advice from your own health care professional, someone who knows you and can factor in all of your possibly complex health information. Finally, your age, gender, race, and other health conditions will impact some target ranges. Treat this like a GPS: even though it says to turn right, you might be driving in a tunnel, not on the street above.
Now it is time to take the next step in decreasing your dementia risk.
Click the Start button and begin the checklist.
If you prefer to complete the checklist by hand. Please download and print the PDF version provided here.
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