Table 2 NICE guidelines on dementia: key palliative care components¹.

• Dementia care should incorporate a palliative care approach including the Gold Standards Framework and the Liverpool care pathway for the dying patient.

• Advance care planning should be utilised by health and social care professionals, guided by the patient and/or carer where appropriate.

• The role of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for advance decisions to refuse treatment and the Preferred Place of Care documentation are emphasised.

• Palliative care services should be available to people with dementia in the same way that they are available to people who do not have dementia.

• Artificial feeding, antibiotics for fever and cardiopulmonary resuscitation are generally not appropriate in the terminal stages of dementia.

• If people with dementia have unexplained changes in behaviour they should be assessed to see whether they are experiencing pain, potentially by the use of an observational pain assessment tool.

NICE, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.