ABSTRACT
Financially it is the most important element as
the largest portion of direct costs for dementia
are incurred by services for long-term care. In
organisational terms it is the most important
factor because long-term care replaces
informal care with professional care. But most
significantly, entry into long-term care means
that families and carers have to come to terms
with the last stages of a terminal condition
and this point in the process heralds a period
of grief and mourning for many relatives. For
the patients themselves long-term care usually,
although not always, means a loss of
autonomy and, all too often, a loss of
individuality. Good quality long-term care
means many different things from good
quality design through to good quality
medical care. However, the best quality long-
term care should also be attuned to the
preservation of dignity and, as far as possible,
autonomy of the demented person, and
should also preserve the role of the family or
principle care-giver.
