Summary of papers included (n=12)
| Author, year of publication | Country | Publication type | Management decision | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahill et al, 201222 | Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland | Peer-reviewed paper | Ensuring a ‘good death’ | Guidelines for nursing homes delivering end of life care, which have been developed from in-depth qualitative interviews with bereaved caregivers of people with dementia |
| Callahan, 199523 | USA | Report | Ending life-sustaining treatment | Report which raises the question; under what circumstances should life-sustaining treatment for someone with dementia be ended? |
| Gillick, 200124 | USA | Peer-reviewed paper | Swallowing/eating difficulties | Provides a stepwise approach about what nursing homes should do when someone with dementia stops eating |
| Karlawish et al, 199925 | USA | Peer-reviewed paper | Ensuring a ‘good death’ | Describes how to reach consensus in decision-making, using a case study of a person with dementia who develops neurogenic dysphagia and aspiration pneumonia |
| Kovach et al, 201226 | USA | Peer-reviewed paper | Pain and agitation | Quasi-experimental study of a 5-step and 9-step decision support tool for management of pain and agitation in people with dementia |
| McAlister et al, 198927 | Canada | Peer-reviewed paper | Swallowing/eating difficulties | Proposes an analytic approach to decision-making for people with dementia who refuse feeding by hand |
| Palecek et al, 201028 | USA | Peer-reviewed paper | Swallowing/eating difficulties | Proposes ‘comfort feeding only’ as a means to eliminate the apparent care–no care dichotomy assumed by a decision to forgo artificial hydration and nutrition |
| Schwartz et al, 201429 | USA | Peer-reviewed paper | Swallowing/eating difficulties | Synthesis of literature which supports the notion that forgoing artificial nutrition and hydration is acceptable in dementia end of life care. Discusses decision-making principles when considering artificial nutrition and hydration as an option for feeding |
| Smith et al, 200930 | UK | Peer-reviewed paper | Swallowing/eating difficulties | Contains an algorithm to aid decisions about eating |
| van der Steen et al, 200031 | The Netherlands | Peer-reviewed paper | Treatment of pneumonia | Through the use of case studies, describes the use of a checklist to make decisions about whether or not to treat pneumonia in patients with dementia |
| van der Maaden et al, 201432 | The Netherlands | Peer-reviewed paper | Treatment of pneumonia | A 5-round Delphi study, from which a guideline was created for optimal symptom control for patients with dementia who develop pneumonia |
| Zagaria, 201533 | USA | Peer-reviewed paper | Rationalising medication | Promotes a philosophy of stopping any medication that is not in line with the primary goals of care |