From Palliative Care Australia Press Release
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are the second leading causes of death in Australia, but patients often miss out on palliative care as they aren’t recognised as having a terminal condition.
Dementia is different from other terminal conditions because of the long, unpredictable course of the disease, difficult issues around capacity for decision making, difficulties in communication and lack of community understanding of the disease as a life limiting illness which requires palliative care.
Because of complications such as these, people with dementia may be unaware of, or denied access to, palliative care services.
Read the full release here.