To the Editor
Thank you for the thoughtful response to our recent article on “Development and Testing of a Decision Aid on Goals of Care for Advanced Dementia.”1 Your detailed work developing and reviewing a booklet for family caregivers is an important addition to the body of research on supportive care for advanced dementia patients. Although the booklet is not a formal decision aid, it is a promising resource for this population. We are hopeful this line of research leads toward a clinical trial of the booklet with active family caregivers. In addition to decision aids, such informational tools are extraordinarily rare in dementia care.
Contributor Information
Laura C. Hanson, Geriatric Medicine, UNC Palliative Care Program, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Seth F. Einterz, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC
Robin Gilliam, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Feng Chang Lin, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
J. Marvin McBride, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
References
- 1.Einterz SF, Gilliam R, Lin FC, et al. Development and testing of a decision aid on goals of care for advanced dementia. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2014;15:251–255. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2013.11.020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]