Ensuring your carers have the skills and knowledge to support people with dementia

Dementia Awareness Week 2023

This year, Dementia Awareness Week begins on May 15th to May 21st; it usually takes place on the third Monday of May and is organised by Alzheimer's Society, the largest national organisation and charity that campaigns for awareness, funds research to find a cure and supports people living with dementia. 

To coincide with #dementiaawarenessweek, Person Centred Software, a market leader in care home software and provider of the UK's most widely used Digital Social Care Record, discusses how Oomph Wellness, the UK's leading well-being business for older adults, helps upskill carers in understanding the challenges someone living with dementia may face when communicating. 

Who is at risk of developing dementia?

According to Alzheimer's Society, around 900,000 people in the UK have dementia. Dementia, more common amongst women than men, mainly affects people aged 65 and over.  

1 in 14 people over the age of 65 has dementia - this rises to 1 in 6 for people aged 80 or over.   

Dementia can also affect younger people - this is often called young-onset dementia. Around 1 in 20 people with dementia are younger than 65 (more than 42,000 people in the UK who are under 65 have dementia).  

Why do some people get dementia and not others?

There is no apparent reason why some people develop dementia and others don't. It can depend on a combination of things, such as genes, age, lifestyle and other health conditions.  

It has been found that most types of dementia are not passed down (inherited) from parent to child. However, a few genes can cause dementia if passed from a parent to a child, which is rare - known as 'familial' genes. 

There are several factors that can increase chances of developing dementia, including: 

The biggest risk factor for dementia is ageing. However, there are things people can do to lower their risk of developing dementia in the future. 

These include:  

Why is dementia training important in care homes?

Carers and other health and social care professionals must have the necessary skills and knowledge to help and care for those living with dementia. 

A lack of knowledge and understanding about dementia can often lead to difficulties. For example, carers who have not undertaken dementia training may find it difficult to understand why a person is behaving in a particular way.  

Oomph Wellness (part of Person Centred Software's family of products) offers a wide range of training courses and workshops designed by experts to help care teams develop the skills they need and improve every aspect of their wellbeing delivery. 

What is covered in the dementia training workshop?

The 'Effective Communication in Dementia Care workshop helps to upskill care workers in understanding the challenges someone living with dementia may face when communicating. It will provide care teams with techniques and practices to deliver excellent quality care to the people they support. It will highlight areas such as the brain's function in communication, verbal and nonverbal communication and techniques for providing a positive first approach.  

Care teams will learn the following:  

What are the learning outcomes of the dementia training workshop?

By the end of this session, carers will be able to:  

When is the dementia training workshop delivered?

The 'Effective Communication in Dementia Care' workshop is available throughout the year.   

Who should sign up for the dementia training workshop?

This workshop is suitable for wellbeing leads, activity coordinators, and  

carers who participate in activities looking after a person with dementia or wish to learn more about the condition.  

Is the dementia training workshop face-to-face or virtual?

Virtual  

What's the duration of the dementia training workshop?

1.5 hrs