A new Research Letter published in Palliative Medicine estimates that the palliative care needs of people living with dementia in England and Wales will be much higher by 2040 than previous projections have indicated. People with dementia can have severe symptoms and complex care needs throughout their illness, not just before death, which can benefit from palliative care. Specialist palliative care can also help with reducing the number of emergency department attendances and unplanned hospital admissions experienced by people with dementia.
The research was carried out as part of the Empowering Better End of Life Dementia Care ( EMBED-Care) program, which is jointly led by researchers at University College London and King's College London, and aims to improve care for people living and dying with dementia. Using recently updated data on the number of people with dementia in England and Wales from Chen at al., 2023, the Research Letter found that the number of people with dementia in England and Wales who have palliative care needs is projected to substantially increase by 2040, from 274,000 to 399,000 using the most conservative scenario in which incidence of dementia declines over the next 20 years.
This number could be as high as 676,000 under a scenario where incidence of dementia increases over the next 20 years. Most palliative care for people with dementia is provided by generalist health and care professionals, including GPs, community nurses and care home staff. Thi.