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Evidence to Improve Care

Dementia

Care for People Living in the Community

Click below to see a list of brief quality statements and scroll down for more information.


Quality standards are sets of concise statements designed to help health care professionals easily and quickly know what care to provide, based on the best evidence.

See below for the quality statements and click for more detail.

Quality Statement 1: Comprehensive Assessment and Diagnosis
People suspected to have mild cognitive impairment or dementia receive a comprehensive assessment when signs are first identified. If diagnosed with either condition, they are then reassessed on a regular basis or when there is a significant change in their condition.

Quality Statement 2: Interprofessional Care Team
People living with dementia have access to community-based dementia care from an interprofessional team with expertise in dementia care, of which the person living with dementia and their caregivers are integral team members.

Quality Statement 3: Individualized Care Plan
People living with dementia have an individualized care plan that guides their care. The plan identifies their individual needs, those of their caregivers, and goals of care. The plan is reviewed and updated on a regular basis, including documentation of changing needs and goals and the person’s response to interventions.

Quality Statement 4: Named Point of Contact
People living with dementia and their caregivers have one or more named providers on the interprofessional care team who serve as a point of contact to facilitate care coordination and transitions across settings.

Quality Statement 5: Education and Training for People Living With Dementia and Their Caregivers
People living with dementia and their caregivers have access to education and training on dementia and available support services.

Quality Statement 6: Education and Training for Health Care Providers
Health care providers delivering care and services to people living with dementia receive education and training in dementia care.

Quality Statement 7: Access to Support Services
People living with dementia and their caregivers have access to support services that are individualized and meet their ongoing goals and needs.

Quality Statement 8: Caregiver Assessment and Support
Caregivers of people living with dementia are assessed on an ongoing basis and offered supports to address their individual needs.

Quality Statement 9: Safe Living Environment
People living with dementia have access to a safe living environment that meets their specific needs, including design modifications and a range of housing options.

Quality Statement 10: Access to Primary Care
People living with mild cognitive impairment or dementia have regular visits with a primary care physician or nurse practitioner who provides effective primary care that meets both their general health care needs and their specific needs related to cognitive impairment or dementia.

6

Education and Training for Health Care Providers

Health care providers delivering care and services to people living with dementia receive education and training in dementia care.


People living with dementia have complex needs and should receive individualized care from providers with education and training in dementia care. With the knowledge and skills required to effectively provide care for people living with dementia, providers can offer care strategies and treatments that meet people’s needs, optimize their strengths, and help improve or maintain their quality of life and level of functioning. Training and education materials and programs should be tailored to providers’ roles and responsibilities.

For People Living With Dementia and Their Caregivers

Your team of providers should be trained to care for people living with dementia.


For Clinicians

Ensure you have the education and training required to effectively provide care for people living with dementia, in accordance with your role and responsibilities.


For Health Services

Ensure the availability of education and training in dementia care for providers caring for people living with dementia.

Process Indicator

Percentage of health care providers who care for people living with dementia who have received education and training in dementia care

  • Denominator: number of health care providers who care for people living with dementia
  • Numerator: number of people in the denominator who have received education and training in dementia care
  • Data source: local data collection
Structural Indicator

Local availability of health care providers who have received education and training in dementia care

Education and training

Education and training needs to be tailored to the providers’ scope of practice. This information should include, at a minimum, content related to:

  • Comprehensive assessment of people living with dementia and an assessment of caregivers’ needs
  • Dementia signs, symptoms and disease progression
  • Specific subtypes of dementia
  • Approaches to diagnostic uncertainty in persons with complex conditions
  • Person-centred care
  • Development of care plans that meet the goals, preferences, values, and cultural expectations of care of people living with dementia and their caregivers
  • Early identification of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and techniques for de-escalation and management
  • Early identification of behavioural risks and safety issues and techniques for de-escalation
  • Appropriate use of nonpharmacological and pharmacological treatments
  • Self-care and safety for health care providers
  • How to communicate with people living with dementia and their caregivers
  • How to coordinate multidisciplinary care
  • Impacts of dementia on people living with dementia, caregivers, families, and social networks
  • Outreach strategies to connect people living with dementia and their caregivers to available resources
  • Ethical and medical-legal considerations
  • Requirement for informed consent
  • Detection of and strategies to manage abuse
  • Advance care planning and palliative care

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