Skills, education, training and support

Ideally, multidisciplinary teams in all care settings (including primary care, community healthcare, social care, domiciliary care, care homes, acute service and the VCFSE sector) will receive a minimum ‘baseline’ level of education and training enabling:

• A shared understanding of dementia and delirium and the interplay and difference between them 
• An ability to recognise the signs and symptoms of dementia and delirium and adapt how you respond (for example, choosing an alternative to hospital admission such as a virtual ward or simply seating the person in a quiet room while they wait to be seen) 
• An ability to effectively listen, communicate with and build rapport with a person living with dementia and their care partner, including demonstrating empathy and understanding their needs and wishes
• An ability to put the person and their care partner at the centre of decision-making and communicate clear and accurate next steps and expectations.

Where high levels of staff turnover are a factor, it will be important to consider how the above ‘baseline’ training can be delivered on a rolling basis (for example, as part of the induction of new staff) to ensure competency levels amongst the workforce are maintained and built upon (for example, opportunities to share experiences or expertise).

In addition to the above, dementia-specific training is recommended to ensure that clinical and professional staff that work closely with people develop the skills and understanding needed to perform their roles effectively.

Tips for success

• Existing training materials specific to dementia and delirium are readily available for ICSs to use, negating the need to always develop materials from scratch. See below for a list of useful training sources and links.
• Releasing time for staff to attend training on dementia or delirium can be a challenge so consider new ways to deliver interventions that minimise disruption to working patterns. See the example of developing practice below provided by Dementia United.
• One-off training interventions are rarely effective for embedding or sustaining new ways of working, so consider training as a key part of an overall approach to developing a dementia-attuned workforce and culture. For example:
  • consider the role of coaching, mentoring and shadowing alongside training to help achieve sustainable change
  • develop the role of experts by experience, as a mechanism to listen and learn from people with lived experience.
  • ensure that new competencies and behaviours developed through training are reflected in job descriptions and interview questions so that they become an integral part of role responsibilities
  • build skills and competencies related to dementia and delirium into supervision and appraisal frameworks.
• Develop dementia champion roles in each care setting to help raise awareness, change attitudes and promote and acknowledge good practice.
• Make the de-medicalisation of dementia a core aim of training and development alongside development of a more blended workforce model in the community that prioritises a more holistic approach to delivery of care for dementia and delirium. Training should also recognise that a medical condition could cause a change in behaviour or acute delirium (for example, UTI) which would require a medical review.
• Develop a specific workforce strategy for dementia/delirium that includes all the above components.
  
   

Supporting resources

The Dementia Training Standards Framework provides helpful information for staff in all care settings, and supports training and workforce development, building upon the objectives of the National Dementia Strategy.

Other resources are: