A new partnership between HammondCare and St Giles Hospice seeks to develop international best practice palliative care for people with dementia.
One in three people will die with or from dementia highlighting the need for a high-level international approach to addressing deficits in palliative care for people living with dementia.
St Giles Hospice is a leading provider of palliative care, hospice services, community nursing and care planning in the UK.
HammondCare is a health and aged care charity specialising in dementia care and design, palliative care, advance care planning, and related research. From Australia originally, HammondCare also offers services internationally, including in the UK.
HammondCare spokesperson, Colm Cunningham, Director of the Dementia Centre, said the organisation was pleased to enhance its positive relationship with St Giles Hospice by developing a focused collaboration on how to deliver the best possible palliative care to people living with dementia.
“Dementia has become a leading cause of death in many countries, something relatively new to our experience but expected to increase. As a result, the interaction of palliative care with the end-of-life needs of a person with dementia has never been more important or prevalent,” Mr Cunningham said.
“We are involved daily in the delivery of compassionate palliative care for people with dementia, and it is also a key area of research. This partnership is a vital next step in further developing and sharing this expertise.”
St Giles Chief Executive Officer, Emma Hodges, said finding a like-minded partner with dementia and palliative care expertise was crucial to advancing this important area of care.
“I’ve been concerned about palliative care for people with dementia for some time, particularly in regard to evidence that suggests physical pain is poorly diagnosed and treated, creating frustration and distress,” Mrs Hodges said.
“You cannot take services developed for people with cancer and assume they will suit people with dementia. This partnership will enhance and complement our existing services by providing improvements in the care of people dying with dementia based on international best practice”.