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. |