Introduction: Advanced dementia is the final stage in the clinical course of dementia, characterized by a loss of autonomy in carrying out activities of daily living and a high risk of malnutrition in addition to severe cognitive, physical, behavioral and psychological impairments. Purpose: We aim to identify both, available nutritional care approaches that promote the quality of life and well-being of persons with advanced dementia and existing professional interventions that facilitate the selection of optimal feeding option for people with advanced dementia in long-term care. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using DiKUL. Databases MEDLINE and CINAHL were searched for peer-reviewed publications in English, published 2014–2019 in scientific journals and with full text access. We used keyword search (dementia OR alzheimers OR cognitive impairment OR memory loss) AND (feeding OR eating OR nutrition) in abstract. 19 articles were included in the analysis. Strength of evidence was evaluated using a system of four categories. Results: Aproaches to improve or maintain the quality of life of people with advanced dementia focused on facilitation and promotion of self-feeding and eating independence, which was achieved through management of mental, functional and swallowing problems, promotion of oral food intake, use of modified diets, providing of person-centered care and supportive social and physical environment. Training programs for health care professionals and professional assessment tools could reduce decisional conflict for feeding options in advanced dementia and ensure higher health care quality. Informing surrogate decision-makers of people with dementia about possible feeding options could help promote goal-directed care in advanced dementia. Discussion and conclusion: We found a lack of high-quality randomized control trials, research studies on larger sample sizes and reports of long-term outcomes. Further research is required to determine the effectiveness of interventions, targeted to population with specific stages or types of dementia. In addition, time, staffing and institutional policy barriers to nutritional guideline implementations should be examined.
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