Continuity of care for persons with dementia

What is it about?

Continuity of care is an important health policy goal that has been specifically emphasized for people with dementia in recent governmental reports. In Norway, the statutory individual plan aims to ensure user participation, improve continuity of care and increase collaboration between home and formal health care providers. This article demonstrates gaps between practice and such health care policy objectives. Differences in formal and family caregivers’ perceptions of collaborative practice inhibit the attainment of policy objectives. Caregivers’ different positions enable or hinder continuity of care for people with dementia.

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Why is it important?

The conflicting positioning can essentially create intertwined barriers with a potentially negative impact on the services that formal health care providers offer and whether and to what extent the person with dementia and his or her family caregivers utilize these services.