The Understanding Dementia suite of courses are specific to the aged care sector and designed to line up with the Aged Care Quality Standards. These courses have been developed with a recognised subject matter expert and in consultation with expert clients working in the field to ensure the course is fit-for-purpose.

Clients using the existing five (5) Understanding Dementia courses are strongly encouraged to rollover to these three (3) new titles.

Understanding Dementia: What is Dementia?

The first of the three courses is ‘What is Dementia?’. This course is designed to provide the learner with an understanding of dementia, its impact and how to support people living with dementia

Dementia is not a mental illness. It is a syndrome or group of symptoms that affect the person living with dementia in different ways.

Dementia involves the gradual loss of memory, the ability to think clearly, sensory stimulation and the ability to perform everyday activities. An individual approach to care and support is best as the causes of dementia vary and the experience can be different from person to person, and even from moment to moment.

This course trains the learner in:

• What the term 'dementia' means.
• The impact on a person living with dementia.
• The need to provide a person-centred approach to care.

This course is an excellent introductory module for dementia training. It is suitable for new and experienced carers.

Understanding Dementia: Person-centred care

The ‘Person-Centred Care’ course is designed to train the learner in how to provide good person-centred care to people living with dementia.

They’re still the same person. They just live with dementia now.

Person-centred care is treating someone you care for as a person first. It means providing care in a way that is specific to them, taking into account their unique wants, needs, likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. This course advocates Kitwood’s ‘flower of emotional needs’ and the principle that people with dementia do not lose their identity.

This course trains the learner in:

• What person-centred care is.
• The importance of practising person-centred care.
• What person-centred care might look like in practice.
• The importance of taking care of yourself.

This course is relevant for anyone providing person-centred care to someone living with dementia.

Understanding Dementia: Effective Communication

Kineo’s Effective Communication’ course is designed to teach the learner how to communicate effectively with people living with dementia.

As dementia advances, verbal communication breaks down resulting in people living with dementia communicating their emotions in different ways. Good carers make sure that the person they’re caring for feels happy and free to communicate.

As the person changes the way they communicate, so should the carer.

This course trains the learner in:

• Ensuring that they meet the needs and maintain the dignity of the people in their care living with dementia
• Verbal and non-verbal forms of communication, including active listening  
• Recognising and identifying when a person is communicating an unmet need
• Strategies for effective communication with someone living with dementia.

This course is excellent behavioural-based training for anyone providing care to someone living with dementia.

Course design

As noted, the suite has been reduced from 5 titles to three. The previous five Understanding Dementia courses were also identified as presenting language and training inconsistent with best-practice dementia care. For example, the language ‘challenging behaviours’ is no longer considered best practice.

Based on the reviewed content and client consultation, the final three courses (Communication Skills, Activities and Occupation and Changed Behaviours) have been replaced by one course focusing on the key behaviour undertaken by all carers with all people living with dementia: Effective communication.

In consultation with clients and the SME, we developed a learner persona to reflect the majority of learners performing the course. Understanding our target learner encouraged us to reduce the seat time, use clear and direct language, and make the courses as emotionally engaging and familiar as possible.

Language and content has also been developed to align to the new ACQS standards.

The three new Understanding Dementia courses

The new Understanding Dementia courses are designed to be used either as a suite or as standalone elearning modules.

Each course features:

• 20 or 30-minute seat-times.
• Videos.
• Interactive case studies.
• Full course voiceover.
• Extra resources.

These courses have been reviewed by Frontline Care and scripted in consultation with expert clients working in the field.

The new Unit IDs are:

• 25694: Understanding Dementia: What is Dementia?
• 25702: Understanding Dementia: Person-Centred Care
• 25843: Understanding Dementia: Effective Communication

The five courses being replaced have the following unit IDs:

• 24292 (Understanding Dementia 1: Introduction to Dementia)
• 20137 (Understanding Dementia 2: Person Centred Care)
• 20138 (Understanding Dementia 3: Communication Skills)
• 20139 (Understanding Dementia 4: Activities and Occupation)
• 20140 (Understanding Dementia 5: Changed Behaviours)