It may be useful when identifying and prioritising improvement ideas to take a pathway approach. Although everyone’s journey with dementia is different and is rarely as linear as the diagram below, it does enable teams to map their services along the pathway to ascertain what is working well and where there might be areas for improvement.

Whilst the focus of this change package is post-diagnostic support (PDS), care coordination and palliative & end of life care (stages 3, 4 and 5), it is important that HSCPs are aware of how people access assessment and diagnosis within their area. Without a diagnosis, people are unable to access the care and support in stages 3, 4 and 5 in the pathway. The quarterly PDS management reports produced by Public Health Scotland provide a useful illustration of the numbers diagnosed and referred for PDS, but it will also be important to understand whether people are diagnosed through different routes, and whether all routes are linked to PDS. For examples of work to improve assessment and diagnosis please see this webpage or contact the Focus on Dementia team.