Integrated Care Pathways and Care Bundles for Dementia in Acute Care: Concept Versus Evidence

Caring for people with dementia in acute settings is challenging and confounded by multiple comorbidities and difficulties transitioning between community and acute care. Recently, there has been an increase in the development and use of integrated care pathways (ICPs) and care bundles for defined illnesses and medical procedures, and these are now being promoted for use in dementia care in acute settings. We present a review of the literature on ICPs and/or care bundles for dementia care in the acute sector. This includes a literature overview including "gray literature" such as relevant websites, reports, and government publications. Taken together, there is clearly a growing interest in and clinical use of ICPs and care bundles for dementia. However, there is currently insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of ICPs for dementia care in acute settings and limited evidence for care bundles for dementia in this setting.

Frontotemporal dementias: development of an integrated care pathway through an experiential survey of patients and carers

The frontotemporal lobar degenerations (FTLDs) constitute one form of neurodegenerative dementia, which presents with behavioural or linguistic symptoms which often elude precise diagnosis in the early stages of disease, to the frustration of both patients and carers. Based on experiential data from patients and carers seen in both the voluntary care sector (the Alzheimer's Society) and a dedicated Cognitive Function Clinic over periods of 3 to 4 years, a provisional integrated care pathway for FTLDs has been developed which seeks to ensure timely diagnosis and access to appropriate care needs.