Published in

MA Healthcare, International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 5(12), p. 209-213, 2006

DOI: 10.12968/ijpn.2006.12.5.21173

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Explanatory models of dementia: links to end-of-life care

Journal article published in 2006 by Murna Downs, Katherine Alison Froggatt ORCID, Neil A. Small
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.

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Abstract

We will describe four models used to understand dementia: as a neurological condition; as a neuro-psychiatric condition; as a normal part of ageing; and seeing dementia from a person-centred perspective. Adopting the last of these allows an engagement with palliative care that has the potential to enrich the end-of-life experience of people with dementia, of their families and of the professional care staff who work with them. In this article, it will be argued that our perceptions of what is possible for practising person-centred care at the end of life are constrained by the paradigms we work within. There is developing evidence about how approaches to end-of-life care for people with dementia can move beyond what was, at best, therapeutic pessimism and at worst ill-treatment towards something that optimizes the capacities of those with dementia and mobilizes imaginative care practice.