End of life care in dementia: Building bridges for effective multidisciplinary care

摘要

The figures speak for themselves: by 2021 one million people in the UK will experience dementia (Knapp & Privett, 2007) and there will be similar increases in dementia prevalence throughout the world. One in three of us over the age of 60 years will die whilst having a dementia (Brayne et al., 2006) and the quality of end of life care received by people with dementia may be less than optimal (Sampson et al., 2006). The UK Government has attempted to address these issues through the End of Life Care Strategy (National Health Service - End of Life Care Programme, 2007) and the National Dementia Strategy (Department of Health, 2009). It is interesting, however, that there is little overlap or interaction between the two strategies and concerns have been expressed that people with dementia may 'fall between two stools' and not have their palliative care needs adequately addressed.