Models of care for people with dementia approaching end of life: A rapid review

Abstract

Background: People with dementia have different care and support needs at their end of life compared to people with other life-limiting illnesses, and general palliative care models may not meet the needs of people with dementia and their carers and families. Some dementia-specific end-of-life care models have been implemented, and a summary of existing models was undertaken to inform development of a local model. Aim: To identify best-practice models of care for people in the advanced and end stages of dementia, and their families and carers. Design: A rapid review with narrative summary of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature was conducted. Data sources: Ten databases were searched for articles published between January 2000 and April 2022. Inclusion criteria were: all care settings; AND the model focuses on people with end-stage or advanced dementia; AND contained multiple components. Results: Nineteen articles or reports, describing twelve dementia-specific models of end-of-life care in a range of care settings were identified for inclusion in the review. There is strong evidence that the principles of best practice palliative care for people with advanced dementia are well known, but limited examples of translation of this knowledge into integrated models of care. The key issues that emerged from the findings were: referral and admission to care, integration of care, sustainability and evaluation. Conclusions: Findings can be used to inform development of improved end-of-life care pathways for people with dementia, but well-designed research studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of integrated models of care for this vulnerable population.