Improving the HealthCare of People with Dementia beyond the Diagnosis: The “Carlo Poma Dementia Care Pathway” Study Protocol

Abstract

The WHO global action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017-2025 stressed the concept about the need to have a comprehensive approach with deep interconnections and crosscutting elements through several action areas. As the elderly population grows worldwide, the number of patients with dementia increases rapidly because age is an important risk factor for developing late-onset dementia. Currently, dementia syndrome represents a very care emergency. Very often, there is a gap between performances supplied by the hospital and those present on the territory. After a diagnosis of dementia, informal caregivers, patients and the whole family swing between desires, fear, concerns about the present and the future because in several clinical context there is not a possibility of enjoying services that plan some critical issues, which could verify itself along the disease’s course. Despite extensive research funding in the field of dementia, deficits in the quality of dementia care still exist. There is a paucity of robust research concerning the care experiences of patients with dementia. It is mandatory to understand these experiences if we want to address care inequalities and create impactful dementia policies to improve services for support individuals and family caring, promoting a good quality of life for all people involved in this devastating disease. Aim of this article is to describe the development of an intervention to improve the healthcare of people with cognitive impairment and their family. By building specific care network and developing planning abilities of care services, it is possible to ameliorate both the quality of life and care provision other than to optimize the health expenditure. The services integration means to guarantee the continuity of care and the appropriateness of access to health care, avoiding inappropriate use. This could result in a resources saving and reducing healthcare costs.