Improving care from diagnosis onwards

Lead Investigator: Dr Lesley Williamson  

Institution: King’s College London

Grant type: Postdoctoral Fellowship

Start date: March 2026

Duration: 48 months

Amount: £348,029

Summary sentence:

Dr Williamson will explore if a tool used to assess the palliative care needs of people with dementia can be used to improve access to person-centred care in primary care.

Short description (100 words):

The Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale for Dementia (IPOS-DEM) tool is most commonly used in care homes to assess the palliative care needs of people living with dementia. The tool takes a holistic approach so assesses physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.

Dr Williamson wants to understand if IPOS-DEM can be used by GPs to help them provide person-centred care.

Following a diagnosis, many people with dementia struggle to access adequate care. If IPOS-DEM can be used in GP surgeries, it could mean that people with dementia get improved person-centred care from diagnosis onwards.

Long description (250 words):

The IPOS-DEM tool is used to measure the holistic needs of people diagnosed with dementia. The tool centres on assessing the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and priorities of the individual. This is known as ‘person-centred’ care.

Since its publication in 2017, IPOS-DEM has been implemented into routine care in care homes, community teams, inpatient wards, and hospices across the UK. However, this tool has never been trialled in primary care, so we don’t know if it can be used by GPs to support better care for people living with dementia.

Palliative care can be introduced at any stage of dementia as it seeks to improve care and quality of life. Dr Williamson aims to evaluate how IPOS-DEM can be applied in primary care by working with people affected by dementia and with GPs.

Using existing evidence she will begin the project by aiming to understand what could help or hinder IPOS-DEM in primary care, followed by a workshop with people with dementia, their carers, and GPs. Dr Williamson and the participants will discuss how the IPOS-DEM could work in real life GP surgeries and what success would look like. Following implementation of IPOS-DEM with 30 people with dementia she will interview people living with dementia, and / or care partners and up to 30 GPs to understand how well it has worked. 

People with dementia often struggle to access consistent, holistic primary care that meets their specific needs. The project could mean that people with dementia get better person-centred care from the point of diagnosis to end of life.