A matter of interest

[Grannie G]

Faculty of health & social care
Foundation Degree in Dementia Care
Foundation Degree
Canterbury Christchurch University is one of the leading universities in the UK for dementia care.
The teaching and learning in dementia care is led by the team in the Dementia Services Development Centre South East (DSDCse), a partnership between the University, Dementia UK and Avante Partnership.
Service development is a core activity of the DSDCse. Its aims are to support dementia services to plan, deliver, or improve the quality of services for older people with mental illness and dementia, curriculum design and development, teaching and training.
Who is the course aimed at?
The Foundation Degree in Dementia Care is for health and social care support workers, for example, assistant practitioners, who have experience and wish to specialise in dementia care and gain a qualification at university.
The work-based programme consists of six dementia modules and six core modules (at level 4 and 5) which, together, focus on practical skills and study at university. Each module is worth 20 credits.
Aims
The aims of the programme are to equip students with the skills needed to provide leadership in person centred dementia care in the work environment.
Course Content
The programme includes six specialised dementia modules that provide education and training in person-centred relational dementia care.
Modules cover:
> Understanding the impact of dementia on the person, family and carers;
> Workshops in therapeutic skill development and advanced communication methods;
> Implementation of partnership and leadership working that support the person with dementia, their family and carers;
> Support and facilitation for workplace practice development.
Participants will share and learn from others’ expertise and knowledge within a range of study sessions including:
> Taught sessions in theory and methods of holistic dementia care;
> Practice workshops, seminars, role play/simulation and group discussion;
> Small group projects and analysis of the work products; > Planning and evaluation of workplace project; > Practice development and analysis.
Assessment
Assessments usually include one academic paper and practical demonstration of academic and skill achievement in the workplace.
Start Date
September
Each module consists of five taught sessions per term, including academic direction at the University (30 hours) and workplace learning.

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[JPG1]

xxxxxxxxxx University = which University?

Dementia Services Development Centre xxxxx xxxx (DSDCse) = which/where ?

Dementia UK and xxxxxx Partnership = which Partnership?


Aside from the above unknowns, sounds great.

 

[Grannie G]

I need to check to be sure what can be posted and what not.

 

[Vonny]

Hi Sylvia, even if you can't post the name of the uni etc, this seems to me a great step forward. Let's hope more higher educational establishments cotton on! xxx

 

[Grannie G]

Blanks have been filled in now.

 

[jenniferpa]

Umm - they don't seem to have been Sylvia.

 

[Grannie G]

They have now Jennifer.

 

[jenniferpa]

There - I'm just too fast for my (and your) own good.

 

[jenniferpa]

Incidentally, while I agree with Vonny that this indicates a growing awareness, and that's a good thing, I'm a bit ambivalent about this. I'm not sure that nursing, for example, was improved in all areas by it becoming a more academic career. Having said that, it's not entirely clear how much of that will be practical and how much academic. On the whole a good thing I think.

 

[Skye]

A reminder of the Dementia Champions course we have been running here for the last three years.

It's for nurses and auxilliaries from the infirmary, so is essentially practical. The nurses have day-release from the general hospital, not the specialist psychiatric hospital.

There is input from people with dementia and caresr, and visits to day centres and care homes. Assuming 25 participants per year, that means 75 nurses are now trained in dementia care, spread over all wards, including A&E. They are supposed to lead by example when there are people with dementia on their wards. It really works!

It was devised and is run by the University nursing department, in conjunction with Alzheimer Scotland and User and Carer Involvement.

.

 

[Soobee]

Although I understand why you feel ambivalent about it, I think it's a good thing. The more understanding and appreciation of dementia, the better. At the moment, the only courses I could find on dementia were at Bradford University and Stirling University. Nothing in the south of England before this.