Clinical and Diagnostic Services
On the hospital side, the combination of a rich referral base at the clinic and an innovative service delivery model has created a strong trajectory of growth for the Department of Behavioural Medicine. The department is still the only one in the country providing for specialist tertiary referrals in a General Hospital. It has a multidisciplinary team approach designed to optimally treat patients, and train junior doctors and medical students. The department has a support staff of psychologists, nurses, social workers and other clinicians. The department takes care to provide culturally sensitive therapeutic interventions.
A wide range of assessments and treatments using various conceptual models including neuropsychiatry, psychotherapy and behaviour therapy are offered. It also offers comprehensive liaison psychiatry, behavioural medicine as well as psychosocial intervention under the umbrella of social work.
The department offers unique clinical and diagnostic services. The assessments provided by neuropsychology employs specialised testing procedures and a nomothetic framework that strives to integrate medical, neurological, and behavioural data with neuropsychological test findings to answer any of a number of referral questions. Referrals for our services typically consist of, but are not limited to, questions concerning (a) differential diagnoses between psychogenic and neurogenic syndromes (e.g. depression versus dementia), (b) delineation of spared and impaired cognitive functions secondary to central nervous system dysfunction, (c) establishment of behavioural baseline measures to monitor recovery or progression of central nervous system dysfunction (d) comparison of pre- and post-pharmacological, surgical, and behavioural interventions (e) assessment of cognitive/behavioural functions for the formulation of rehabilitation, management strategies, and/or educational or employment placement and (f) evaluation of neurocognitive status for the purpose of disability, compensation, and liability determinations in forensic cases.
Weekly ward rounds are conducted by each clinical team to discuss our inpatients, with a multidisciplinary approach.
Continuing professional development and regular Grand Rounds every Saturday afternoon, help management of difficult cases.