New Dementia Guide Provides Best Standards of Care from 100+ Not-for-Profit Hospice, Palliative and Advanced Illness Organizations

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National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI)

May 09, 2024, 09:00 ET

Released today by the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), Guide Will Empower Millions Caring for Loved Ones with Dementia and Alzheimer's

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), the national voice for not-for-profit hospice care, in collaboration with Aliviado Health and the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), announces today the release of the NPHI "Dementia Care Resources Provider Guide." The new guide aims to improve the quality of life for patients with dementia, reducing hospitalizations, and easing the burden of advanced illness for families and caregivers.

A dementia diagnosis poses substantial challenges for both patients and their families, impacting millions of Americans nationwide. Shockingly, the Alzheimer's Association reports that an estimated 6.7 million individuals in the U.S. currently live with dementia — a figure projected to double by 2050 due to an aging population. This staggering increase underscores the urgent need for effective resources and support for patients with dementia and their caregivers.

NPHI's Provider Guide, part of a comprehensive collection alongside its Patient and Caregiver counterpart, tackles the challenges encountered by patients with dementia. These resources aid NPHI members' clinical teams, caregivers, and families in caring for patients with advanced dementia, offering practical support and vital information for home care. By providing caregivers with guidance on symptom management and improving the quality of life, these guides facilitate patients' desire to stay in the comfort of their own homes

"When fully embraced, the new provider guide, alongside its patient and caregiver counterpart, holds the promise to uplift the quality of care for countless individuals living with dementia," expressed Dr. Cameron Muir, Chief Innovation Officer at NPHI. "While navigating dementia care presents challenges for patients, families, and caregivers alike, our steadfast dedication is to lighten those burdens by offering premier resources, at no extra cost, to multitudes of individuals."

"Persons living with dementia and their caregivers deserve compassionate, high-quality, evidence-based palliative and hospice care. We are thrilled to continue our work with NPHI and CAPC to integrate Aliviado's clinical trials-tested approach to comprehensive, person-centered care into the provider guide," said Ab Brody, PhD, RN, FAAN, FPCN, founder of Aliviado Health and associate director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. "Aliviado Health is committed to our mission of building expert teams to provide expert care that helps persons living with dementia and their caregivers across care settings have the highest possible quality of life. This guide provides a valuable tool to NPHI members—who collectively care for more than 500,000 persons with serious illness annually, a large proportion of whom have dementia—to achieve this mission."

"In our quest to improve dementia care in the U.S., we've heard from countless health professionals who are eager to improve the quality of life for their patients with dementia but want guidance on where to start," said Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care. "We're thrilled to have collaborated with NPHI and Aliviado to create practical resources for hospices and other health care organizations supporting people with dementia, and their caregivers."

The Provider and Patient and Caregiver Guides represent the best standards of care for mid, advanced, to end-stage dementia and were put together with the collective input of 100+ not-for-profit hospice, palliative care, and advanced illness care organizations. The Provider Guide was unveiled this morning at NPHI's Annual Summit in Kansas City in front of hundreds of hospice and palliative care leaders from around the nation and will be immediately integrated into their practices, to enhance the quality of care for dementia patients nationwide.

If you are supporting a loved one who is living with dementia, experiencing challenges with care, or would like to connect with a trusted community-based provider, please visit www.hospiceinnovations.org or call 844-GET-NPHI (438-6744). Click here to download the free patient and caregiver guide.

The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) is a membership organization comprising 100+ not-for-profit, community-integrated hospice and palliative care providers. These members are dedicated to ensuring patients and their families have access to care that reflects their individual goals, values, and preferences. Representing providers from 37 states and the District of Columbia, NPHI and its members help design more innovative and effective models of care, advocate for comprehensive and community-integrated care customized to meet each person's unique needs, and build collaboration between national thought leaders, decision-makers, and other healthcare stakeholders to improve hospice care. Learn more about NPHI at hospiceinnovations.org.

The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality, equitable health care for people living with serious illness. As the nation's leading resource in its field, CAPC provides health care professionals and organizations with the training, tools, and technical assistance necessary to effectively meet this need. Learn more at capc.org.

Aliviado Health provides innovative training and resources to home-based teams and community-based organizations, giving them advanced expertise in the complexities of dementia care. It is a dissemination arm of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, focusing on assisting clinicians and organizations in implementing high-quality, evidence-based care for older adults with serious illness. The mission of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing is to ensure older adults achieve optimal health and quality of life, and has become a beacon for those working to advance geriatrics in nursing. Learn more at aliviado.org.

SOURCE National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI)