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Improving Dementia Education and Awareness (IDEA)
One person in four over the age of 80 is likely to develop dementia
Will you help radically improve the care of people with dementia?
The issue
There are 35.6m people living with dementia worldwide. In the UK, around 2.75m health and social care staff care for people with dementia, costing the economy £20bn a year. The number of people with dementia in the UK will double to 1.4m by 2040.
Dementia is characterised by a decline of the brain and its abilities. It can cause memory loss and personality changes. Nobody is immune, it cannot be prevented and treatments merely delay the inevitable decline.
One person in four over the age of 80 is likely to develop dementia. Britain’s ageing population intensifies the need to provide easily accessible, trustworthy training materials to support carers.
Our solution
Our clinical and academic experts have worked with families and carers to produce a virtual training centre, a one-stop internet-based tool offering tailored training and support to carers. The Improving Dementia Education and Awareness (IDEA) proposal, produced in discussion with the Open University and leading practitioners in the field will bring up-to-date, interactive and user-friendly training materials together. It will also offer online discussion groups - harnessing the power of social networking to support dementia carers.
IDEA will build on the success of a similar tool devised by the University’s Institute of Mental Health and the OU for personality disorder. Launched in 2009, this has been accessed by over 5,000 people and is expected to reach 10,000 in 2012.
Our impact
Our virtual training centre will improve care and so allow people with dementia to remain independent, active and socially engaged for longer.
IDEA will reduce the burden on the UK economy. It will benefit carers, establishing best practice to promote dignity and compassion in caring, resulting in better services for people with dementia and their families.
Supporting family carers will reduce pressure on the NHS and the UK economy. The virtual nature of our training centre means it will have global impact, helping people with dementia and their carers in countries where dementia services are non-existent.
What will your Impact be?
Your support for Improving Dementia Education and Awareness will have a genuine impact on promoting effective training, which will improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers worldwide.
Quotes
“Dementia training for social care is now big business. The question is whether training works. Research tells us that training can change attitudes and actions, but also that its impact is often short-lived and fragile. We don’t know enough yet to concentrate funding on the most effective training. This is why we need to evaluate the impact of training. It’s not enough to claim better standards by quoting numbers trained – we must prove that training brings lasting improvements in the outcomes for people with dementia and for their families.”
Professor Mike Fisher, Head of Quality & Research, Social Care Institute for Excellence
“I have talked to staff in different health care organisations about caring for people with dementia and many tell me how ill-prepared they feel to tackle this major part of their job.”
Professor Amanda Griffiths, Chartered Occupational Psychologist, Institute of Work, Health & Organisations, The University of Nottingham