healthcare staff working with people with dementia across all care settings in addressing specific aspects of dementia palliative care. This work was overseen by a Project Advisory Group (see Appendix 1 for membership). These documents aim to consider all stages of dementia and will include consideration of all people who have dementia (e.g. people with young onset dementia, people with intellectual disabilities etc.). In order to determine the focus for the guidance documents, a desktop review of Irish literature on the topic of dementia and palliative care was completed and compared against an Irish review of the educational needs of staff working with dementia. Following a process of consultation and feedback with the Project Advisory Group, the following care domains were agreed upon as a focus for the suite of guidance documents: 1. Communication skills 2.
Facilitating discussions on end of life care
3. Advance healthcare directives and advance care planning 4. Bereavement 5. Intellectual disability 6. Hydration and nutrition 7. Pain assessment and management 8. Ethical decision making 9. Medication.
At the time of this guidance document going to print (June 2015), these have been further condensed into the following guidance documents: 1. Facilitating discussions about end-of-life care with the person with dementia 2. Advance healthcare directives and advance care planning 3. Bereavement 4. Hydration and nutrition 5. Pain assessment and management 6. Ethical decision making 7. Medication. When completed, it is envisaged that a final composite guidance document will be prepared based on key findings from those developed.
Facilitating discussions on future and end-of-life care with a person with dementia
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