Challenging the veracity of the Simard MD protocol
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It has been widely published that the Simard MD cognitive test was developed by Bonnie Dobbs PhD and Donald Schopflocher PhD, of the Medically At-Risk Driver Centre. (MARD).
We challenge the veracity of that assertion.
In lectures and public presentations, Bonnie Dobbs presents the Simard MD as a product of their research. She refers to the Simard MD as the “screening tool that we have developed”.
She informs her listeners, mostly seniors, that “we designed our research . . . . “ She refers to the Simard MD as a “research based tool . . the reason we developed it”.
When challenged concerning the danger of the test, she responds, “a cognitively intact person, of any age, will do well on the Simard MD”.
She has informed listeners that they (the developers of the SIMARD MD) have “carefully selected the (10) words.
She informs listeners that the test is “based on eight years of research”.
At no time, during local presentations, has Bonnie Dobbs told listeners that the Simard MD was not developed by her and her fellow PhD but is essentially Der DemTect test.
Der DemTect was developed in year 2000, by Dr. Pasquale Calabrese, Joseph Kessler & Elke Kalbe in Bochum, Germany.
On the MARD website the SIMARD MD is cited as a
“modification of the DemTect because it uses a subset of the items from that screening tool“
Indeed. We submit that the Simard MD is hardly a subset.
The Simard MD is in fact the DemTect test minus question 4, renamed Simard MD and touted as “a new screening tool”.
Tags: Bonnie Dobbs, MARD, Simard, simard md