Recognising end of life in people with dementia

Abstract

There is an increasing number of people affected by dementia, both those with the diagnosis of dementia and those that care for them. Dementia is a life-limiting condition for which there is no treatment available to cure or alter its progressive course. UK dementia policy has tended to focus on living well with dementia, not on dying well with dementia, which has led to fragmented services and many difficulties for this group of people. A consistent difficulty is in recognising when a person with dementia enters the end-of-life phase. The disease trajectory of dementia is unpredictable, especially when compared to the trajectories of other terminal conditions and when there are other comorbid conditions with the dementia. This paper considers approaches to support the stages of trajectory in dementia through the use of an anonymised case study and how these can support recognising dying and shifting the goals of care for both the person with dementia and their family/carers.