Abstract project
This project aims to contribute high-quality evidence to guide efforts in improving palliative care for people with dementia living at home and in nursing homes. Using existing databases, we aim (1) to examine the current state of palliative care and quality of dying of people with dementia living at home and in nursing homes and (2) to investigate ways to improve palliative care in dementia in these two settings. To realise objective 1, we first measured the quality of palliative care for people with dementia living at home and in nursing homes. Second, we systematically reviewed the evidence on palliative care interventions for people with dementia living at home. And third, we examined how clinical events, such as pneumonia, fever (other than pneumonia) and intake problems relate to the quality of dying of nursing home residents with different status of dementia. However, next to examining how such clinical complications relate to the quality of dying of nursing home residents with dementia, it is also crucial to obtain a comprehensive overview of their clinical characteristics and quality of dying and explore whether these may have changed over time. Hence, using the funding received from the Wetenschappelijk Fonds Willy Gepts, we will also perform a trend analysis of the clinical characteristics and quality of dying of nursing home residents with dementia in Flanders, Belgium in 2010 and 2015. We will also investigate ways to improve palliative care for people with dementia living at home and in nursing homes (objective 2). First, we will continue and finish the assessment of whether PACE Steps to Success palliative care programme can improve the quality of dying and end-of-life care for nursing home residents with dementia. And second, we will study whether specialist palliative care services can improve end-of-life care for people with dementia living at home.
