Dementia Community of practice

Learn and grow as part of a complimentary dementia study. The change for people living with dementia starts with you.

• Do you wish you had more tools to translate your dementia knowledge into practice and organisational change?
• Are COVID-19 restrictions challenging the quality dementia care you strive to provide?
• Would you like to share your dementia practice experience and learn from others?

At Dementia Australia we understand that empowered individuals can lead the transformation within their organisations. For you and all the motivated professionals working in residential and aged care, we are creating dementia Communities of practice. This is an exciting initiative for like-minded people to work collaboratively towards improving dementia care.

We invite you to be part of the change and participate in a complimentary study to evaluate whether online Communities of practice and education can lead to better practices in dementia care. The evaluation will be conducted by Swinburne University. Participation in this online pilot program is free.

 

Benefits to you

As part of an online dementia Community of practice you will:

1. develop a network of mutual support through regular interactions with other members over the eight months of the study
2. participate in virtual classrooms (two hours each) and receive training in:
   • Supporting behaviour changes during the COVID-19 restrictions
   • Engaging and connecting  with people living with dementia through COVID-19
3. share knowledge and gain information about dementia care during online meetings (two hours a month) and through participation in online forum (min. two hours a month)
4. access online education and up-to-date resources
5. learn about new and emerging improvements in dementia care
6. receive support on how to implement change.

 

As part of the online education group you will:

1. participate in virtual classrooms (two hours each) and receive training in:
   • Supporting behaviour changes during the COVID-19 restrictions
   • Engaging and connecting  with people living with dementia through COVID-19
2. learn how to support person living with dementia despite the restrictions and social distancing measures
3. receive comprehensive education without long-term commitment

 

To be eligible to participate, you must:

• be 18+ years of age
• have sufficient English skills to complete study activities
• have completed at least 18 hours of foundational training in dementia care (e.g., Dementia Essentials, online training in dementia care, or similar) in the past two years
• be working in residential or community aged care in a role that provides capacity to implement change and be able to identify goals for improving practice
• anticipate no objection from your organisation to you participating in the pilot program.

Participation involves completing online questionnaires upon registration, at three months and eight months.

For further information about this study and how to participate, call Centre for Dementia Learning on  1300 336 368 or email cdl@dementia.org.au.