SESSION DESCRIPTION
Advance care planning for dementia involves decisions that differ from other serious illnesses. This session introduces a practical framework to help clinicians guide families through three key domains: feeding decisions, routine medical treatments (such as infections or surgery), and complex choices including dialysis, cancer evaluation, or VSED. Through case-based discussion and interactive exercises, participants will learn communication strategies and decision tools to support goal-concordant dementia care.
OBJECTIVES
- Apply practical communication strategies for discussing feeding and nutrition decisions in advanced dementia.
- Anticipate common medical decision points in dementia—including infections, surgery, and diagnostic testing—to incorporate into advance care planning.
- Use a structured decision-making framework to guide families through complex treatment decisions such as dialysis, cancer diagnosis, or VSED.
FACULTY
Esther J. Luo, MD
Outpatient Palliative Care Physician Lead
The Permanente Medical Group, Santa Clara Medical Center
Sandy Trieu, MD, HMDC
Clinical Associate Professor of Palliative Medicine
Stanford Health Care