Palliative Care in Dementia

The Dementias are common neurodegenerative diseases which gradually deteriorate and eventually become fatal. However, hospice care is usually made available to patients suffering from Cancer, while patients who suffer from other chronic conditions such as dementia are not usually offered such care. However the lessons which have been learnt regarding hospice palliative care could be applied with some modification to the care of patients with Dementia. This article attempts to discuss the present literature about palliative care in Dementia, in order to clarify the evidence which underlies the European Association for Palliative Care 'White paper defining optimal palliative care in older people with dementia'.