Palliative Care in Dementia - training course

A course for health & social care staff and family & friends of people with dementia

The Palliative Care in Dementia course takes an innovative approach, involving family members and friends in the programme as equal partners.It places communication at the heart of the training.

The course materials acknowledge the importance of person-centred care and show how a palliative care approach enhances quality of life for people with dementia.

The workbooks cover key aspects of current thinking about providing palliative care which is relevant to people with dementia at any stage of the journey, but particularly those in the later stages.

The course addresses difficult topics like death and dying, loss and bereavement, acknowledging that dementia cannot be cured and that people will die with, or of, dementia. There is also an emphasis on the needs of relatives and how they can be involved within care settings.

The materials

The Facilitator's Guide is designed to enable facilitators to deliver the course. It is supported by three workbooks for participants entitled:

• Communication and the person with dementia
• Communication towards the end of life for the person with dementia, their family and friends
• Communication with family members and friends.

The notes in the Facilitator's Guide include background information about dementia and different models of care. There are also a number of extracts from research papers about dementia and palliative care. These will allow facilitators to become more confident in delivering all aspects of the course. The content of the workbooks is relevant to care workers from backgrounds including health, social care and care homes.

Accreditation

The content of the workbooks is relevant to several knowledge specifications relating to Scottish Vocational Qualifications in Health and Social Care. The course is subject to accreditation from the SQA level 3. The course material is suitable for mapping onto the Knowledge Skills Framework.

*postage and packing extra