Developing evidence-based practice guidelines for speech-language pathologists serving individuals with Alzheimer's dementia

Alzheimer's disease (AD), an insidious neurodegenerative process that produces inexorable decline in intellectual functioning, is the leading cause of dementia and is creating the profession's largest clinical population. As the multiple cognitive deficits exhibited by individuals with AD result in impaired communicative functioning, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have a role in treating individuals with AD. In 2001, the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS) established a writing committee to develop evidence-based practice guidelines for SLPs serving individuals with dementia. The writing committee decided to limit the focus of the practice guidelines to Alzheimer's disease and formulated five clinical questions to be addressed through searching and evaluating the published literature on assessment and treatment of individuals with AD. The focus of this article, the first report from the committee, is to provide the background to the project, delineate the growing role of the SLP with this population, and summarize the methodology the committee used to evaluate the literature. Subsequent reports on assessment and treatment will reference this foundational article for background procedural information.