The Alzheimer’s Association has recommendations for End of Life Care for People With Dementia. This is the 3rd part of a series.
I read through this, and although long, it is well worth the time. In PDF form, I recommend printing it before reading.

Dementia Care Practice Recommendations for Assisted Living Residences and Nursing Homes

Some Highlights of interest:

• It is important that residents and families consider the following care decisions and the relationship of each of them to the resident’s care goals during planning for the end of life:

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Invasive medical procedures and tests (e.g.,surgery, blood tests, dialysis)
Hospitalization
Use of intensive care units and ventilators
Artificial nutrition/hydration
Use of antibiotics
Use of preventive health screenings, medications and dietary restrictions

EXAMPLE: Colonoscopies and mammograms may not be advisable for residents who are at the end of life and cannot benefit from or understand these sometimes uncomfortable procedures.

EXAMPLE: Risks and benefits of medications may change when a resident has a limited amount of time to benefit from the positive effects.

EXAMPLE: Dietary restrictions may be modified when residents have difficulty swallowing or are not eating
enough to maintain their weight.

EXAMPLE: Forgoing weighing the resident when he or she is actively dying.

About Staff Training:

• Staff education and training is an essential part of the delivery of quality end-of-life care for individuals with dementia. It is important for staff members to adopt an attentive, anticipatory and investigative approach to caring for very vulnerable individuals who can no longer manage their own care.

NOTE: Residences that have contracts with hospices or palliative care services may request the hospice to provide palliative care training to staff.

• Good preparation for the unique challenges of providing quality end-of-life care requires that staff have training in caring for people with dementia, which covers:
Dementia as a terminal illness
Effective communication with residents who have dementia

Communication with the resident, proxy decision maker and family regarding advance care planning,end-of-life decisions and when the resident has begun the dying process or has a prognosis of death

Culturally appropriate communication and care for residents and families

Need to honor advance directives and the treatment choices of proxy decision makers for legal and ethical reasons, despite one’s personal beliefs about the appropriateness of care decisions

Physical and behavioral symptom assessment as well as pharmacological and nonpharmacological approaches to care at the end of life.