Conducting a Culturally-Informed Neuropsychological Assessment Using the ECLECTIC Framework
Summary Abstract:
The population of countries across the globe are becoming more and more diverse. Factors contributing to this heterogeneity include increases in international migration, growing recognition of indigenous populations, and increases in interracial marriages. To ensure equal access of services to an increasingly diverse population, neuropsychologists will need to develop skills in conducting culturally competent neuropsychological assessments. Thus far, the focus for cultural neuropsychology has been finding validated tests that are translated and appropriately normed for the characteristics of each patient. Although testing is an important component of the assessment process, it is argued that basing an assessment primarily on test scores is flawed and incomplete. It is logistically flawed, as it is impossible to procure appropriately translated and normed tests for all diversities and inherent heterogeneities within each country. It is even more complicated at the individual level. It is incomplete, as test scores, or other forms of data including behavioral observations and history, in and of itself have little clinical meaning. Data only becomes clinically meaningful when interpreted within an individualized cultural context. Thus, it is argued that the foundation for a cultural neuropsychological assessment is not a test score, but a conceptual understanding of the patient. The purpose of this presentation is twofold. The first goal is to introduce the ECLECTIC Framework (Fujii, 2018) which identifies important cultural facets for developing a conceptual understanding of the culturally different patient. The second goal is to illustrate the potential impact of each cultural facet on the assessment process. This will be accomplished by providing examples of how these facets can impact each of the four pillars of the American Education and Research Association et al., (2014) standards for fairness in testing.
Number of Credit Hours: 1.0
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Learning Objectives:
1. Incorporate cultural research in assessment preparation for culturally different patients.
2. Integrate facets of the ECLECTIC Framework to develop a conceptual understanding of the patient.
3. Use this contextual understanding to tailor the assessment process to the specific characteristics of the culturally different patient.
Presenter(s):
Daryl Em Fujii, PhD
VA Pacific Islands Health Care Services
Daryl Fujii, Ph.D., ABPP-CN is a staff neuropsychologist at the Veterans Affairs Pacific Island Health Care Services Community Living Center. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in 1991, interned at the Sepulveda VAMC, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific. Daryl earned his diplomate in clinical neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology in 1999 and was elected to fellow status of the American Psychological Association in 2006 and the National Academy of Neuropsychology in 2016. Daryl is a co-founding member and former President of the Asian Neuropsychological Association, an Associate Editor of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Chair of the VA Pacific Island Health Care Services and Central California Internal Review Boards. He was also selected as a cultural content expert for the 2022 Minnesota Conference tasked with updating training guidelines in clinical neuropsychology. Daryl has contributed to the development of competent neuropsychological assessment through his publications including The Neuropsychology of Asian-Americans (2010), Conducting a Culturally-Informed Neuropsychological Evaluation (2016), The ECLECTIC Framework (2018), and Incorporating Intersectionality in Neuropsychology (2023).
