Le couteau, la pomme et le mouton… Entre neuropsychologie et psychologie interculturelle, quelle perspective pour l'évaluation cognitive de la mémoire épisodique des sujets âgés non francophones ?

In France, recent studies highlighted the ageing of an immigrant population who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s or more recently, and who are now facing the issues of retirement, ageing, and social and medical accompaniment. Special consideration is required from public health policies towards this population. In particular, how can the specificity of non-French-speaking elderly be taken into account when it comes to cognitive assessment? Is it necessary to adapt practices, such as psychological and cognitive assessments, to pluricultural situations that professionals and patients may encounter? This qualitative analysis is based on data collected from 4 patients in a health center. Cognitive assessments were performed using the MMSE and the TMA-93 tests. The analysis highlighted biases related to cultural differences for both tools. The assessment of elderly subjects in a pluricutural situation requires adaptations that go beyond the mere translation of an existing test.