Practical nutritional care of elderly demented patients.

Purpose Of Review: Much of the research into nutrition and dementia focuses on end-of-life decisions about the ethics and efficacy of non-oral feeding. However, there are very many issues that arise long before that stage is reached. This review examines very recent papers that address the practical, day-to-day issues arising from the time that an individual with dementia needs help with eating and drinking.

Ethical issues in the feeding of patients suffering from dementia: a focus group study of hospital staff responses to conflicting principles.

Feeding difficulties in older patients who are suffering from dementia present problems with balancing conflicting ethical principles. They have been considered by several writers in recent years, and the views of nursing and care staff have been studied in different contexts. The present study used focus groups to explore the way in which nursing and care staff in a National Health Service trust deal with conflict between ethical principles in this area.