title: Care and Service at Home for Persons With Dementia in Europe.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe available and utilized formal care and service at home for persons with dementia, from diagnosis to end-of-life stage, in eight European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cross-country design concerning eight European countries as a part of the European research project RightTimePlaceCare.
  
  
  METHODS
  The research team in each country used a mapping system to collect country-specific information concerning dementia care and service system. The mapping system consists of 50 types of care and service activities. Sixteen of the 50 predefined activities concerning care and service at home were selected for this study and subdivided into three categories, following the stages of dementia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Availability was reported to be higher than utilization, and the findings indicated more similarities than differences among the eight countries involved. Even though there were several available activities of "basic care and services" and "healthcare interventions," they were utilized by few in most countries. Furthermore, "specialized dementia care and services" were sparsely available and even more sparsely utilized in the participating countries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings indicated that persons with dementia in Europe received formal care and service on a general, basic level but seldom adjusted to their specific needs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study describes the gap between service provision and utilization enabling nurses to develop individually adjusted care plans for persons with dementia during the progress of the disease. The findings do not include matters of quality of care or how to best organize effective care and services. However, the activities of care and services presented here should shed light on what room there is for improvement when it comes to enabling persons with dementia to go on living at home.
authors.affiliation: Doctoral Student and Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bökberg
authors.affiliation: Professor, Director of the research group Older People's Health and Person-centred Care, Co-coordinator for the Swedish National Graduate School for Competitive Science on Ageing and Health (SWEAH), Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ahlström
authors.affiliation: Lampda Pi, Professor and Chair in Nursing Science, University of Turku, Finland, and Nurse Manager, Turku University Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leino-Kilpi
authors.affiliation: Medical Doctor, Gerontopôle Alzheimer´s Disease Research and Clinical Center, Toulouse University Hospital, France.
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Soto-Martin
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences, TecnoCampus, University Pompeu Fabra, Mataró (Barcelona), Spain.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Health Services Research, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verbeek
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saks
authors.affiliation: Doctoral Student and Research Associate, School of Nursing Science, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stephan
authors.affiliation: Research Associate, Personal Social Services Research Unit, School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, University of Manchester, England.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sutcliffe
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karlsson
mesh_terms: D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005060:Europe; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Dementia; geriatric nursing; home care and services; home health nursing