Standards | Good practice | Evidence base | Practical information

Standards

NICE quality standard for dementia
This quality standard covers care provided by health and social care staff in direct contact with people with dementia in hospital, community, home-based, group care, residential or specialist care settings. It should be read alongside the NICE supporting people to live well with dementia quality standard (QS30), which applies to all social care settings and services working with and caring for people with dementia.

Dementia: Supporting people with dementia and their carers in health and social care.

NICE pathway for dementia
This summarises and links to everything that NICE has recommended in relation to supporting people to live well with dementia (including diagnosis, treatment and carer support). The pathway also links to resources to support the use of NICE guidance and quality standards, for example audit, training and commissioning tools.

Good practice

Information, links and contacts

The NICE shared learning database is regularly updated with new case studies describing how people have used NICE guidance and/or quality standards. Examples when undertaking search with key word “dementia”:

• Dancing down Memory Lane: Circle Dancing as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention in Dementia
• Derby Dementia Support Service
• Implement shared care prescribing guideline for drugs for dementia
• Moving on, The Lunch Club experience
• Prescribing antipsychotic medications for the treatment of behavioural symptoms in people with Dementia, Milton Keynes 2012.
• Psychotherapy Service Provision for Carers of People with Dementia

NICE Evidence Search
This free online portal to several evidence databases including Medline, Cochrane, Social Care Online, Royal College databases etc. You may access Quality and Productive (‘QIPP’) case studies here, or follow this link to go straight to the QIPP collection. A search for “dementia” currently results in 3 case studies:

• Service redevelopment: Integrated whole system services for people with dementia
• Statins for the treatment of dementia
• Psychological assessment and treatment for medically unexplained symptoms and long-term conditions

Cognitive Assessment Toolkit from Alzheimers Society
Guidance for clinicians about what tests are available and how they may be used in clinical practice.

Guidance on commissioning for quality in dementia care
Guidance from colleagues from NHS South West for Clinical Commissioning Groups and Health and Wellbeing Boards on commissioning for quality in dementia care.

Dementia: Finding housing solutions
This report, published by the National Housing Federation, highlights how good housing and related services can impact positively on the lives of people with dementia, from delaying more intensive forms of care to preventing admission and readmission to hospital.

Gnosall dementia co-ordinators
Gnosall model of a memory assessment service in primary care, with expert support from a specialist memory service. Information, guidance on model, and contact details.

Report and recommendations on End of Life and dementia from Clinical Networks, Northern England. https://www.nepho.org.uk/publications.php5?rid=1166

Dementia diagnosis and care in England – Learning from Clinical Commissioning Groups
Learning, information and case studies from visits to CCG’s, highlighting challenges, actions and support for commissioners towards achieving the national ambition in dementia diagnosis.

Managing behavioural and psychological disturbance in dementia
Resource pack from NHS Leeds for all stakeholders involved in the care of people with dementia. Includes recommendations, examples, review tools for antipsychotic medicines.

Evidence base

NICE pathway for dementia
This provide a summary and links to everything that NICE has recommended in relation to supporting people to live well with dementia (including diagnosis, treatment and carer support). The pathway also links to resources to support the use of NICE guidance and quality standards, for example audit, training and commissioning tools.

NICE Evidence Search
Free online portal to several evidence databases including Medline, Cochrane, Social Care Online, Royal College databases etc.

Any Town Module Pack
A tool from NHS England  to help guide local planning through a set of evidence-based interventions may address this challenge and how quality and finance will be effected through intervention impact. This uses anonymised scenarios across England – an urban health system, a suburban health system and a rural health system.

State of the nation report on dementia care and support in England
Department of Health report including information and data on prevention, diagnosis, living with dementia, training and education, and research. Includes case studies and statistical information.

Dementia diagnosis resource pack: 10 key steps to improving timely diagnosis
This resource pack sets out key steps for Commissioners, and key steps for General Practices to improve the diagnosis of dementia, and the diagnosis pathway.

Making Best Use of the Better Care Fund
Paper from The King’s Fund summarising and research on approaches that commissioners may consider to optimise the impact and benefits of the BCF for health and social care.

Pathways to dementia diagnosis: A review of services in the South West of England
Comparison of diagnosis and post diagnostic pathways, including consideration of MCI. Useful resource for commissioners and providers considering local models and pathway work.

Latest research and information funded by National Institute of Health Research –   approximately 1 in 3 dementia cases may be prevented by addressing risk factors. “What is good for your heart is good for your head” https://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/2014/07/14/1-in-3/ and https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(14)70136-X/fulltext

Research

The Blackfriars Consensus on brain health and dementia
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60758-3/fulltext

UK Health Forum Dementia and brain health
https://www.ukhealthforum.org.uk/who-we-are/our-work/policy/dementia/

Economic evaluation

Commissioning dementia care in line with NICE guidance and standards should support commissioners to improve health and social care outcomes in line with the clinical commissioning group outcome indicator set and other national outcomes frameworks.

Making commissioning decisions based on NICE guidance and standards and other NICE accredited evidence can help commissioners use their resources effectively to improve the quality of health and social care for people with dementia.

NICE costing tools and commissioning support

• Costing report
• Costing template
• Commissioning guide

Practical information

The following links will take you to the ‘information for the public’ versions of key NICE publications on the topic of dementia:

• NICE Quality standard on dementia
• NICE Quality standard on supporting people to live well with dementia
• NICE Clinical guideline on dementia

See also:

• Alzheimers Society https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/
• Age UK https://www.ageuk.org.uk/
• Dementia Action Alliance – Resources and information including: Carers Call to Action. https://www.dementiaaction.org.uk/
• Dementia Information Prescriptions from DementiaWeb/Guideposts Trust https://www.dementiaweb.org.uk/information_prescription.php
• Dementia – the view from Primary Care . Booklet from Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group for use by GPs and practice nurses to expand their knowledge and confidence in assessing and treating people affected by dementia. Useful, practical information.
• Sue Ryder Care https://www.sueryder.org/in-your-area
• Suffolk Dementia Help Line https://www.sueryder.org/What-we-do/Care-centres/The-Chantry/Dementia-helpline