Avicenna Memory Clinic

Avicenna Memory Clinic is a collective of interdisciplinary staff who support patients, families, and their caregivers. It provides assessment, treatment, care planning, and health navigation to patients and their families.

A cognitively healthy brain is quite possibly the most essential organ in our bodies. It governs and regulates all of our actions and thoughts, helps us experience a wide range of senses, and forms our emotions and memories. In other words, our brains allow us to be fully human, so it is vital that we look after it.

Here at Avicenna Centre for Brain Health, we offer a Comprehensive Brain Health Assessment, prevention, and an individualized treatment program for brain health, which operate as follows.

Comprehensive Memory Assessment

Cognitive health is assessed at Avicenna Centre for Brain Health through the completion of several computerized tests, information-gathering appointments by our clinicians, and functional assessments done by our expert Occupational Therapist, along with physician input.

If a patient would like to go through the Comprehensive Brain Health Assessment at Avicenna Centre for Brain Health, they will take the following steps.

  1. An appointment is booked with a Clinician (Registered Nurse or Social Worker) who is specialized in geriatric healthcare and memory loss. The Clinician takes a comprehensive patient history and speaks with family members or loved ones to assess the patient’s condition.
  2. The Clinician arranges blood work prior to your appointment with the physician. They collaborate with your family physician and review your health authority data to build a complete picture.
  3. An appointment is booked with a highly trained Occupational Therapist, who conducts extended cognitive testing and functional assessment to measure cognitive and functional ability.
  4. An appointment with a Physiotherapist is booked, in which baseline mobility and risk of falls are assessed. The Physiotherapist may also recommend additional interventions based on the patient’s assessed profile.
  5. An appointment with our on-site Geriatric Psychiatrist is arranged to review the patient’s history and confirm any diagnoses presented by the allied health staff throughout the other assessment phases. The Geriatric Psychiatrist also presents medication plans, treatment options, and care planning. Short-term follow-up appointments may be provided to check in on the patient’s progress, and a brain scan may be requested if necessary.
  6. A comprehensive assessment is arranged with a Family Physician who has expertise in elder care, to review the medical status and risk factors relevant to the patient. The physician provides further input into the patient’s medication plans and treatment options.
  7. Lastly, a meeting with a Health Navigator is scheduled to discuss the results of all tests. An intervention plan is presented to the patient and their family members or loved ones, and health care navigation is provided to discuss the private and public options available to secure treatment. A unique, patient-specific care plan involving all health disciplines is created at this appointment, to help the patient receive the therapies they require more smoothly.
  8. Some services patients may engage in after the assessment include, but are not limited to, psychology services, counselling, dietician services, and continued physiotherapy.

For the costs and fees associated with this assessment, please see our Fees and Payments page. The physician portions of this assessment are covered under your provincial health plan (MSP in British Columbia, AHCIP in Alberta). The assessment fees cover allied health services and other costs involved in offering the assessment.

Our Memory Clinic serves patients at our Delta, BC and Calgary, AB locations.