Palliative care for persons with dementia

Dementia is irreversible. Although currently available drugs are typically able to ameliorate symptoms and slow down its progress, there is yet no known cure for this disease. The inevitable consequence of dementia is the gradual deterioration of the condition until final decline into the end of life stage. The priority care plan for patients with end stage dementia, therefore, must focus on palliative care that provides for a comfortable and high as possible quality of life. However, dementia is rarely looked upon as an end-stage disease. In 2009, the Taiwan National Health Insurance began reimbursing the costs of hospice care for patients with end stage dementia. This paper discusses end stage dementia cases in which patients received inappropriate interventions during their final days as well as the barriers faced in developing countries to providing palliative care. This paper also suggests strategies to promote quality of care and quality of life in people with end of life dementia.