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Nursing Interventions in Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia: A Systematic Review of Symptom, Relief, Comfort, and Caregiver Support
Vianca Gloriene Barcoma Pujante, Waqas Sami, Noof Fahad Al-Kuwari, Moattar Raza Rizvi. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare, 2025-10-09
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
Twenty-three studies from 12 countries were included (8 cluster RCTs, 9 individual RCTs, 6 non-randomized trials). Nurse-led programs improved care planning (≥75% documentation rates), reduced caregiver decisional conflict (20-30%), and enhanced communication quality (by up to 20 percentage points). Pain detection increased by 41%, with validated tools reducing pain scores by up to 30%. Psychosocial therapies reduced agitation by up to 25% and improved care cooperation. Multicomponent models decreased emergency visits and improved transitions, with over 40% increases in advance directive completion. Risk of bias varied by design and domain. Nurse-led palliative care interventions show consistent benefits in communication, symptom control, and caregiver support. However, evidence on long-term caregiver outcomes is limited, and heterogeneity in design and measurement limits comparability. Standardized, scalable models are needed to fully integrate nursing-led approaches into palliative dementia care.
Key findings
- Twenty-three studies from 12 countries were included (8 cluster RCTs, 9 individual RCTs, 6 non-randomized trials).
- Nurse-led programs improved care planning (≥75% documentation rates), reduced caregiver decisional conflict (20-30%), and enhanced communication quality (by up to 20 percentage points).
- Pain detection increased by 41%, with validated tools reducing pain scores by up to 30%.
- Psychosocial therapies reduced agitation by up to 25% and improved care cooperation.
- Multicomponent models decreased emergency visits and improved transitions, with over 40% increases in advance directive completion.
Study details
- Study designsystematic review
- Effect sizeincreased by 41%
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 75/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for sample size and studied in people because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 42 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 75 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A systematic review of all the studies on the question |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41089743) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 42 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 42 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 75 out of 100. |
| Total | 75 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Pujante, V. G. B., Sami, W., Al-Kuwari, N. F., & Rizvi, M. R. (2025). Nursing Interventions in Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia: A Systematic Review of Symptom, Relief, Comfort, and Caregiver Support. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare. https://doi.org/10.2147/jmdh.s546183
Vancouver
Pujante VGB, Sami W, Al-Kuwari NF, Rizvi MR. Nursing Interventions in Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia: A Systematic Review of Symptom, Relief, Comfort, and Caregiver Support. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare. 2025. doi:10.2147/jmdh.s546183. PMID: 41089743.
BibTeX
@article{pujante2025-41089743,
author = {Pujante, Vianca Gloriene Barcoma and Sami, Waqas and Al-Kuwari, Noof Fahad and Rizvi, Moattar Raza},
title = {{Nursing Interventions in Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia: A Systematic Review of Symptom, Relief, Comfort, and Caregiver Support}},
journal = {Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.2147/jmdh.s546183},
pmid = {41089743},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2147/jmdh.s546183}
}
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