• Two/Three days

Target group:

• Professionals and volunteers working with people with Dementia . The course will be contextualised on the basis of the people attending so as to be made relevant to staff working in field social work, day care, residential, home care settings or as volunteers.

SYNOPSIS OF THE PROGRAMME:

The Theory:

• An understanding of Dementia as a form of irreversible chronic confusion.
• An understanding of the aetiology of. Dementia
• The brain and behaviour - what happens in Dementia.
• Meeting the needs of the person with Dementia - a person centred approach.
• An exercise which simulates the experience of Dementia in order to better understand how we can help people with Dementia, feel valued, important and appreciated.
• Exercises to learn how we can communicate successfully with people with Dementia.
• Group exercises to explore ways in which we can involve the people with Dementia more fully in the assessment process in the way in which they can be involved in their daily living routines and in the decisions about their daily living.
• The Context of Care - The Role of Relatives
• Models of care and how they affect the way in which we behave in different settings.
• The relationship between relatives and professional staff.
• Practice Issues
• Assessment and care planning for people with Dementia.
• The development of strategies which enable us to cope better with some of the behaviours which we find challenging.
• Dealing with wandering, violence and aggression, and sexually inappropriate behaviour.
• Taking care of ourselves.

The Objectives:

• To help staff to develop their skills to provide services for people with Dementia including assessment and care planning.
• To explore some of the very difficult issues and dilemmas we all face in trying to provide the very best of services for people with Dementia
• To introduce a person centred approach to service delivery including and introduction to the ideas of Tom Kitwood.
• To introduce a framework which can be used to help deal with situations which are challenging.
• To develop an understanding of how it may feel to suffer from Dementia.
• To develop strategies for behaviours which are difficult to manage.
• To develop an understanding of the needs of caring relatives.
• To develop an understanding that in any decisions regarding risk it is important to assess the affect on the rights of the person with Dementia. Is the risk for them or for us.
• To develop strategies for more effective communication with people with Dementia.
• To establish how music, reminiscence and validation can be used to improve the quality of life for a person with Dementia.