Abstract:

Palliative and dementia care have a focus on holism and follow a person centred approach. Although these values could be described as core, they have arisen from differing perspectives of health and social care and as a result have different foci and approaches. This article describes a palliative care focus to assessing the needs of people with dementia and their carers, in particular their spiritual needs. People with dementia, carers and service providers participated in this assessment. The needs to know the individual, respect their beliefs, views and practices and adopt simple, practical approaches to spiritual care are highlighted.

Author: Stephen Smith