People who are caring for family members with dementia need professional support at all stages of the condition. This might for instance be advice on how to deal with the patient's behavioural problems, or information about how dementia progresses and the care options available. The longer the dementia goes on, the more the family carers feel the restrictions on their own social activities. This has been reported by researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) and Alzheimer Nederland in The Open Nursing Journal.

At the end of their life, cure is less often an important treatment aim for patients with cancer than for patients with another disease. For only a small number of patients palliation as well as cure is a treatment aim, as a publication by researchers at NIVEL and VUmc shows in the British Journal of General Practice.

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to implement a Euthanasia Act in 2002. Research comparing the requests for euthanasia in Dutch general practices before and after implementation of the Euthanasia Act did not show an increase. The Act provides a framework for developing professional guidelines enhancing compliance to the criteria allowing euthanasia. As reported by NIVEL researchers in the British Journal of General Practice.