Over the last few decades, dementia care has changed beyond recognition. Instead of the traditional focus on the medical/organic model of dementia, dementia is thought of in a social context, where the individual is both shaped by and responding to the environment around them.
We offer a number of dementia care courses, and are also happy to design something specific to your needs.
A National Audit Office survey found that 201,000 people with dementia live in residential care homes. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have only registered 124,000 care home places for dementia. This indicates that many people may be developing dementia whilst already in residential care. Our first course is intended to give staff the skills, knowledge and attitudes that they will need to be able to care for this group of residents. The course looks at dementia recognition and diagnosis, types of dementia, the social model of dementia care, and some useful techniques around Reality Orientation and Validation therapy. Although primarily looking at issues in residential care, the course may also be tailored for staff dealing with dementia in community based services and domiciliary care.
This dementia care training course looks at the issues and challenges for managers and senior staff wishing to run a contemporary dementia care service. The course examines both traditional and contemporary approaches to dementia care, and some of the issues for key stakeholders in moving from a traditional towards a contemporary approach. For example, what challenges might there be for the staff team working in the new paradigm in terms of different skills, new attitudes, and new approaches to working with risk? The course also touches on business skills and marketing.
Sometimes, people find it difficult to hear dementia being mentioned without thinking about "challenging behaviour". But are they really synonymous? The course looks at some behaviours that staff may describe as challenging, and examines potential underlying reasons for the behaviours. The course also gives staff some useful techniques that will help both to minimise the risk of incidents, and to deal confidently with such incidences should they occur. The course is intended to be as participative as possible using a combination of shared experiences, case study group work, and applying the theories to practical examples.
If you let us know the dementia care issues that you are dealing with, we are happy to work with you in designing a course to meet the needs of your service. The course is then delivered at your venue for our standard course fee without any additional charges for consultation/preparation.