I think the neuropsych testing is important to create a baseline for the person’s mental status, for comparison with future testing. My husband’s testing was 8 years apart and looking at the DATA really helped me realize and accept what was happening and what it meant. He was very good at disguising his deficits and I was the frog in the boiling water, making ongoing adjustments but not realizing how bad it was getting. Your PCP can refer you to someone in your area, It takes about 3-4 hours over 2-3 visits, with plenty of breaks. My husband really enjoyed the testing- lots of puzzle-type things, word play. The tests are set up for thinking skills, there is no “wrong” answer, so the person doesn’t feel they’ve done poorly or get upset at a difficulty.
My husband has a breakfast/lunch place he loves, so I always talked up going there after a session- keeping things positive. He likes and trusts his PCP, so I just told him Dr wanted him tested for memory, no big deal.
Later, I met with the neuropsychologist, by myself, to go over the results and the comparison with the older testing. I though that was best- no need to upset my husband, he knows his diagnosis, but thinks it’s just some memory problems. I could ask straight-forward questions, as many as I wanted, to more fully understand what was happening and what the future would probably look like. I shared the results with close family. The DATA was really helpful for their understanding too. You see stuff, but you don’t really get it/understand it.