Ecological aspects of cognitive assessment

Patients with brain dysfunction often experience restrictions in daily functioning, eithersocially or within their profession. Neuropsychological assessment is usually used to identifythe cognitive deficits that underlie this interference with daily life activities. However,the extent to which neuropsychological tests can be used to predict daily life functioningis moderate. To improve predictions, an approach is required that takes a closer look atthe discrepancies between neuropsychological testing and daily life functioning, in orderto identify the factors that lead to interference in a particular individual situation. Byidentifying the specific individual difficulties, rehabilitation can be improved and tailored tothe individual patient’s needs.In this chapter we describe an international cooperative project called PROFessionalINTEGration (PROFINTEG) which attempts to enhance the ecological validity ofassessments by integrating neuropsychological data and observational data when assessingpatients with brain dysfunction.