[Journal article] Referral Criteria for Specialist Palliative Care for Patients With Dementia
21 May 2025
Authors: Yuchieh Kathryn Chang; Jennifer Philip; Jenny T. van der Steen; Lieve Van den Block; Allyn Yin Mei Hum; Pedro E. Pérez-Cruz; Carlos Paiva; Masanori Mori; Ping-Jen Chen; Meera R. Agar; Laura Hanson; Catherine J. Evans; David Hui
Published in: JAMA Network Open. Published online: 14 May 2025. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.10298
Summary points:
- 75% of the expert panelists in the Delphi study believed that patients with dementia were referred too late for specialist palliative care
- Referral criteria fell into needs based (symptom distress, psychosocial factors, decision making) and disease based criteria (dementia type, comorbidities, hospital use).
- Specialist palliative care can be integrated earlier, in the moderate, rather than advanced stage of dementia.