About the Dementia programme
The e-learning programme in Dementia Care has been designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce. It focuses on the essential knowledge and skills needed to support and enable people living with dementia and their family carers to live as well as possible, wherever they live.
The programme will also be of interest to those responsible for training and educating the health and social care workforce. It can be used in a variety of ways including as part of induction; to structure reflective practice with individual staff and teams; for self-paced learning; and to revisit as a form of refresher training.
The programme directly addresses the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 by covering all aspects of care for people living with dementia and their family members, from prevention and risk reduction to diagnosis through to bereavement. It emphasises the importance of adopting the perspective and experience of those directly affected by dementia – people living with dementia and their family and friends – and ensuring effective support is provided to health and social care professionals charged with providing compassionate, co-ordinated, evidence-based person-centred dementia care.
More information
The programme is a resource to help with implementation of the following:
- NICE guideline 97. Dementia: assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers (NICE, 2018)
- The Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 (Department of Health, 2015)
- The Dementia Training Standards Framework (Department of Health, 2018)
The programme is consistent with relevant legislation, including that regarding human rights such as the:
- Equality Act (2010)
- Carers Act (2014)
- Mental Capacity Act (2005)
The programme is aligned with the Dementia Action Alliance Dementia Statements.
The programme draws on a rich and diverse evidence base including personal testimony – the voice of the person living with dementia and their family carers – national and international care and services research, and professional and clinical best practice. The content reinforces the importance of dementia being everyone’s business and the importance of having a workforce that is both well-informed and supported to provide high quality, compassionate care.
Programme structure
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Module 1
Introduction to living with DementiaModule 1
This module provides an introduction to living with dementia. The sessions explore the various types of dementia, influences on living with dementia plus draws on key principles in person-centred dementia care. It contains two e-learning sessions:
- Dementia awareness
- Person-centred dementia care
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Module 2
Enabling people to live well with DementiaModule 2
This module describes how the health and social care workforce can enable people to live well with dementia, covering a range of topics across a range of settings, in the context of diverse communities and current legislation. It contains 12 e-learning sessions:
- Dementia identification, assessment and diagnosis
- Dementia risk, reduction and prevention
- Communication, interaction and behaviour in dementia care
- Health and well-being in dementia care
- Pharmacological interventions in dementia care
- Living well with dementia and promoting independence
- Families and carers as partners in dementia care
- Equality, diversity and inclusion in dementia care
- Law, ethics and safeguarding in dementia care
- End of life dementia care
- Research and evidence-based practice in dementia
- Leadership in transforming dementia care
Programme authors
The sessions have been written by people living with dementia and their family carers working in collaboration with a multi-professional team with backgrounds in education, gerontology, nursing, occupational therapy, patient and public involvement, pharmacy, psychology and speech and language therapy.
Meet the team
Professor Murna Downs
Professor of Dementia Studies, Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, University of Bradford
Tracy Watkins
Lead Instructional Designer, HEE e-Learning for Healthcare
Steven Gibbons
Lead Instructional Designer, HEE e-Learning for Healthcare
Karen Walker
Instructional Designer, HEE e-Learning for Healthcare
How to access
In order to access any e-LfH programme, you will need an e-LfH account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.
If you already have an account with e-LfH, then you can enrol on to the Dementia programme by logging in to the e-LfH Hub, selecting My Account > Enrolment and selecting the programme. You can then access the programme immediately in the My e-Learning section.
How to license
In the event that you do not qualify for free access to the Dementia programme, you are able to license access through eIntegrity, a community-interest company established for this purpose.
For more information on the licensing options available for the Dementia programme, please visit the eIntegrity website.
Care home or hospice staff
To register for the Dementia programme, select the ‘Register’ button, above. Select the option ‘I am a care home or hospice worker’ then enter your care home / hospice name or postcode and select it from the options available in the drop down list. Finally enter your care home / hospice registration code and select ‘Register’. You may need to see your employer to get this code.
If your employer does not have a code, then they need to contact the e-LfH Support Team. The Support Team can either give the employer the registration code or arrange a bulk upload of all staff.
Social care professionals
Access to e-LfH content is available to all social care professionals in England whose employers are registered with the Skills for Care National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC). Every employer providing NMDS-SC workforce information to Skills for Care has been given a user registration code for their staff. This code enables you to self-register for access to Dementia. Please contact your employer for more details about the registration code. For information about registering your organisation with the NMDS-SC your employer should access www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk or contact the Skills for Care Support Service on 0845 8730129.
If you have a registration code, you can register by clicking here.
NHS healthcare staff in England
The Dementia programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this e-Learning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.
Further details are available here.
Available to all
The Dementia Awareness and Person-centred Dementia Care sessions from the Dementia e-learning programme are freely available to all, with no registration required. Should you require a record of your activity or a certificate of completion, you will need to register.