facilities participated in time limited trials which
comprised of a range of interventions which
was instigated in response to the presence
of distressed behaviour of several residents
within each site observed during Dementia
Care Mapping. These case studies illustrate
the direct impact staff interactions and the care
environment has on the well-being and psycho-
social needs of people living with dementia.
They also demonstrate staff's capacity to
change their care practices and the care
environment when it is founded on evidence
and they are actively involved in the process of
change.
dEvElOPiNg a NatiONal WEb basEd
Aileen Collier, Meera Agar
death in Australia. Palliative care for people
with advanced dementia is a growing area
of need, particularly in residential aged care
facilities (RACFs), where over half of all
residents in 2008 had a dementia diagnosis.
Palliative care for people living with advanced
dementia is frequently sub-optimal. For
example, the person with dementia often has
difficulty communicating, which can hinder
symptom recognition and their involvement
in care decisions. Lack of acknowledgement
from staff that dementia is a terminal condition
may mean the person with dementia is not
offered the benefits that a dementia-focused
palliative approach can offer. Equally health
managing swallowing difficulty, behavioural
issues, delirium, planning future goals of
care, and providing spiritual care in the face of
advanced cognitive impairment.
pathways, which are well recognized to guide
excellent palliative care, have mostly focused
on cancer care usually for shorter timeframes
(the final hours and days of life) and without
addressing the specific issues faced in
dementia care. The ICF D components
will be outlined, in context of the principles
underlying the framework and corresponding
communication guide. The proposed
quality framework with audit processes and
educational framework will be discussed.
Australia National Quality Dementia Care
initiative the ICF-D, in collaboration with all
stakeholders including RACF's, dementia
and palliative care experts, CareSearch and
consumers, is being developed into a suite of
professionally designed web-based interactive
resources. The ICF-D incorporates an online
assessment tool, care plans based on individual
assessments to enable person-centred
care, communication guides with associated
family factsheets, education modules for
staff and audiovisual teaching materials. A
free dementia-specific PubMed filter will be
developed by CareSearch to ensure health
professionals can easily access up to date
evidence and guidelines either via the website
or independently on the CareSearch website.