What is your approach to determining eligibility for hospice in persons with Alzheimer's disease?

We strongly recommend early hospice enrollment for patients with dementia as soon as they meet eligibility criteria. In our approach, we carefully evaluate both functional and cognitive decline. One area that is often overlooked, however, is nutrition. When a patient with Alzheimer’s disease begins ...

I agree that early referral is prudent; however, it is very hard to predict how long people with dementia will live, and it is not uncommon that they stabilize, particularly if they are admitted to a long-term care setting. I often see patients who live for years being hand-fed with PPS of 30%. So t...