Gloucestershire’s Dementia

Training & Education Strategy

A multi agency approach which supports the
national dementia strategy
Angela Willis
Alignment with national
strategy:
Supports all three high level
objectives
Explicitly linked to objective 13:
“to have an informed and
effective workforce for people
with dementia”
Our strategy prioritises care
homes’ needs (objective 11)
through the development of a
training & support pathway
What informed the strategy?
Growing understanding of need – local
and national research evidence
Identification of priority groups
Benchmarking best practice:
- Skills for Care knowledge sets
- NICE / SCIE guidelines
- Existing development programmes
Learning Needs Analysis
- Poor knowledge & skills
- Learning styles
- Operational / organisational needs
More recently – The National Dementia
Strategy
Key Outcome:

To improve the quality of person

centred dementia care within
Gloucestershire’s H&SC
workforce, through the
development of dementia
knowledge, skills and
competence
Supporting outcomes
Integrated pathway across H&SC
Utilize & co-ordinate expertise
Instil confidence
Best practice
Blended learning approach
Accessible & sustainable
Staged development model
Align with wider competencies,
training & qualification pathways
Formal recognition of individual
learning
Challenges

Low skills base

Huge staff numbers
Different cultures / organisations
Time factor
Different packages of training
Patchy and disjointed training
provision across H&SC
Many priority groups
Critical challenge

How to embed the learning into

everyday practice?

• the role of the Dementia Link

Worker
• in-reach specialist support
Approach

•Vision
•Research
•Stakeholder engagement
•Cross sector working
•Local needs analysis
•Align with emerging national
drivers
•Agree priorities
Basic Essential Dementia
Awareness: E-Learning

•Dementia E-learning
commissioned by
Gloucestershire

•SCIE E-learning
•SCILS
•All above promoted and
supported
Basic Essential Dementia
Awareness – 3 file resource
pack

• Resource File – Powerpoint

presentations, workbooks, E-
learning
• Research File – Alzheimer’s
Society Fact Sheets, NICE
guidelines, CSCI ‘See me’,
research articles
• Admin File – Skills for Care
knowledge set progress logs,
certificates
 Specialist Training Programme
DAY ONE DAY TWO

An Introduction to and analysis Person Centred Care - including

of the nature and causes of behaviours that challenge us:
dementia, delirium and wandering and aggression
depression. An examination of
various strategies for working
with individuals in these
situations
The role of the Dementia Link
Worker (DLW)
•Provides a link between theory
and practice – translating
learning into person centred
practice
•Uses the on-site dementia
learning resources to develop
other staff members
•Promotes best interests of
person with dementia
•Works with other DLW’s for
peer support and sharing best
practice
How are DLW’s supported?

•Two new roles of Care Homes

Education Nurses (CHEN)
created mid 2008
•DLW’s undertake the full
pathway themselves and
undertake additional trainer /
coaching skills training
•Participate in regular facilitated
Best Practice Forum (BPF)
•Regular contact and support
from CHEN (and wider Care
Homes Support Team)
Where are we now?
All care homes have on-site 3 file
dementia learning resources
48% of our care homes have a
trained and supported DLW
Excellent uptake of E-learning, bite
size training, training days and BPF
Significant cross sector working to
embed learning into practice
through role of dementia CHEN
Joint PCT and LA funding agreed to
implement three year county wide
T&E strategy
Evaluation to date

Greater knowledge, skills and

confidence reported by
managers, DLW’s, staff and
relatives
Emerging evidence of higher
quality person centred dementia
care
Emerging evidence of reduction
in referrals from care homes to
NHS
Successful pathway model
(meets supporting outcomes)
Where next?

Three year dementia T&E strategy

being finalised, builds on care home
model
Joint PCT and LA funding agreed to
implement strategy
Priorities for 09/10 include:
Complete coverage for care homes
Develop pathway to include end of
life care (objective 12)
Build on model for domiciliary care
and primary care (objective 6)