Dementia Care: Analysis of Evidence and Synthesis of Five Articles

This report provides a synthesis of five articles focused on dementia care, examining various aspects of treatment and patient well-being. The articles discuss the effectiveness of the Capabilities Model of Dementia Care (CMDC) compared to standard practices, highlighting its limitations. The study also analyzed the impact of family case conferencing in facilitating palliative care approaches for advanced dementia patients, revealing positive outcomes and the need for further research. Other articles explore the challenges in decision-making faced by individuals with dementia and their families, particularly concerning trust in nursing home staff. The report also emphasizes the importance of staff understanding the terminal nature of dementia to improve patient comfort at the end of life, ultimately advocating for comprehensive care strategies that address the emotional and physical needs of individuals with dementia and their families. The report also includes an evidence table summarizing key findings, sample sizes, and limitations of the studies.

Running head: Synthesis
Synthesis
Five Dementia Articles

1
Synthesis
All the five articles are related to a disease called Dementia. Dementia needs a lot of care of
people who suffers from it as it is related a lot to the emotions of the person. According to Moyle
(2016), CMDC (capabilities model of Dementia care) is one of the models which can prove
effective in this disease of dementia as compared to the general LDC practice (Moyle, Venturato,
Cooke, & Murfield, 2016). However, CMDC models have some of the limitations when it comes
to Dementia. At the same time, as per Agar et al. (2017), when the two arm parallel cluster
randomized controlled trial was done, it was found that the family case conferencing facilitates
the palliative approach to care (Agar, Luckett, Luscombe, Phillips, & Beattie, 2017). The further
trails of case conferencing must consider the results and the procedures with respect to the
decision making and the planning of illness events which are anticipated. As per Powers (2008),
he stated that the idea and the concept of palliative care are very poorly understood (Powers,
2008). Also this is relatable to the thoughts of Agar with the points mentioned above. While as
per Rosemond (2017), people with dementia and their family members might face some of the
issues in decision making due to the lack of trust they have with the NH staff (Rosemond,
Hanson, & Zimmerman, 2017). This lack is because the members who actually trusted the NH
staff explained an assertive suicidal experience and fewer requirements for aims of care
discussions. They also said that the family members were ignored by the staff. While Steen
(2013) says that if the terminal nature of the dementia is known by the staff members, this might
improve the comfort of the patient at the end of life (Steen, 2013). All the articles are related in a
way that all are talking about the care that dementia people required and with the help of the
perfect staff, these people can feel comforted until they live.

2
Synthesis
References
Agar, M., Luckett, T., Luscombe, G., Phillips, J., & Beattie, E. (2017). Effects of facilitated
family case conferencing for advanced dementia: A cluster randomised clinical trial.
PLoSONE , 12 (8).
Moyle, W., Venturato, L., Cooke, M., & Murfield, J. (2016). Evaluating the capabilities model of
dementia care: a non-randomized controlled trial exploring resident quality of life and
care staff attitudes and experiences. International Psychogeriatrics , 28 (7), 1091-1100.
Powers, B. A. (2008). Meaning and Practice of Palliative Care for Nursing Home Residents With
Dementia at End of Life. American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias ,
23 (4), 319-325.
Rosemond, C., Hanson, L. C., & Zimmerman, S. (2017). Goals of Care or Goals of Trust? How
Family Members Perceive Goals for Dying Nursing Home Residents. Journal of
Palliative Medicine , 20 (4).
Steen, J. T. (2013). Caregivers’ understanding of dementia predicts patients’ comfort at death: a
prospective observational study. BMC Medicine , 11 (105).