Hopeful Care for People Dying with Dementia

Palliative care, when understood in its entirety, has hopeful connotations for those with a terminal illness, particularly at the end of their lives. When palliative care was first introduced, it only applied to people with cancer; it now encompasses people living with any incurable illness, including dementia.

Unfortunately, many health professionals, and much of the public, are not aware that dementia is an incurable disease of the brain which will end in death.

Furthermore, it is not generally understood that people dying with dementia have symptoms similar to those dying with cancer. The result of this misunderstanding is that many people die without hope, their basic needs unmet.