Staff who work with older people will be trained to spot the signs of mild cognitive impairment and dementia and know how to refer for assessment and offer the support the person needs, whilst awaiting this assessment.

Staff who work with older people are provided with relevant training on how to spot the signs of mild cognitive impairment and dementia and how to refer someone for an assessment. You will also be provided with all the necessary information and support leading up to the assessment.
 
For extra information, evidence and best practice please scroll down to the bottom of the page.
 
 

All Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia, Hidden No More: Dementia and disability report can be accessed here. This reports highlights the need for more dementia training for those working with the elderly.

Trust Chief Executive Officers should demonstrate that all staff providing care for people with dementia receive mandatory dementia training at a level (Tier 1, 2, 3) appropriate to their role and that:

• Delirium and its relationship to dementia is included in the training
• Information about the number of staff who received dementia training is recorded

Those responsible for contracting and providing care services should ensure health and social care practitioners caring for older people with social care needs and multiple long-term conditions are assessed as having the necessary training and competencies in managing medicines. Ensure health and social care practitioners are able to recognise, consider the impact of, and respond to common conditions, such as: dementia hearing and sight loss, and common care needs, such as nutrition, hydration, chronic pain, falls and skin integrity, and common support needs, such as dealing with bereavement and end-of-life, and deterioration in someone's health or circumstances. National Institute of Health and Care Excellence quality standard [QS132]

Training will be given in line with the Dementia Core Skills and Training Framework. The level of training will be:

• Tier 1: For all staff.
• Tier 2: For staff who have regular contact with people living with dementia.
• Tier 3: For staff who work specifically with people living with dementia, are experts or leaders in the area.

All home care and residential care staff should receive mandatory training. This should be equivalent to Tier 2 of the Department of Health and Social Care-backed Dementia Core Skills Education and Training Framework, provided by Health Education England. "

More information can be found in the National Audit of Dementia report here

Useful resources:

• e-learning for health care: dementia programme can be accessed here
• dementia training tool, aimed at those individuals providing the NHS Health Check and includes a self-assessment section which will then provide a certificate of completion can be accessed here
• Greater Manchester Health Innovation and Education Cluster have developed training materials to support staff working on dementia awareness in general hospitals which can be accessed here