Commentary on: Rosenwax L, Spilsbury K, Arendts G, et al. Community-based palliative care is associated with reduced emergency department use by people with dementia in their last year of life: a retrospective cohort study. Palliat Med 2015;29:727–36.

Implications for practice and research We need to better understand how community palliative care should be organised and delivered to optimise well-being for the dementia population.

Research is needed to explore and explain the nature of the relationship between community palliative care and emergency department (ED) use.

More work is needed to examine which palliative care principles are most effective in reducing ED visits. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens