How to Get a Memory or Dementia Evaluation in Brevard
Start with the primary-care office and bring examples; testing should also look for treatable causes of memory change.
Start here
Call the primary-care office and request a visit for new or worsening memory, judgment, behavior, or daily-function changes. Ask whether Medicare’s cognitive assessment and care-plan service applies and whether a specialist referral or local memory-disorder clinic is appropriate.
What to have in front of you
- A dated list of changes and safety incidents
- All prescription, over-the-counter, sleep, and supplement products
- Hearing and vision information
- Family medical history and prior brain imaging or testing
- Insurance cards and any health-care surrogate or release form
What to say when someone answers
“I am requesting an evaluation for changes in memory and daily functioning. Please review medicines and treatable causes, perform or arrange cognitive assessment, and tell us what follow-up and care-plan services are covered.”
Small but useful: Write down the person’s name, the date, the exact next step, and when you should call again.
Do this in order
- 1
Schedule a focused visit rather than saving the concern for the end of another appointment.
- 2
Bring a person who sees day-to-day changes, if the patient agrees.
- 3
Ask what medical, mood, sleep, hearing, vision, and medication causes are being checked.
- 4
Request the written plan, referrals, safety recommendations, and follow-up date.
What happens next
The clinician may perform screening, order laboratory work, adjust medicines, refer to neurology or another specialist, and develop a care plan. Screening is not the same as a final diagnosis.
If they say “we’ll put you on the list”
If the person refuses the appointment, send the clinician a factual note before the next visit; staff may receive information even if privacy rules limit what they disclose. Call 911 for sudden confusion or stroke-like symptoms.
Official sources
- Medicare — cognitive assessment and care-plan services
- Medicare — yearly wellness visits
- Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative
Checked August 9, 2026. Programs, hours, funding, and enrollment lists can change. Confirm details directly before relying on them.