Beth Britton, Social Care Consultant and dementia campaigner, shares her thoughts on the importance of a dedicated community for providers of dementia care.
If you provide dementia care and support, you’ll know how specialist this area of work is. Dementia, of all types and stages, is highly complex. As specialists we need a toolbox of interventions and ideas that will provide the most holistic support possible.
One way to broaden our knowledge of dementia is from other experts in our field, and an organisation aiming to facilitate this type of education and networking is Dementia Community
Dementia Community: Connecting you to dementia specialists from all disciplines
Under the motto of ‘learning, sharing and inspiring’, Dementia Community was formed as a Charitable Community Benefit Society in 2021 to provide a model for sustaining the Journal of Dementia Care (a multi-disciplinary bi-monthly publication established over 30 years ago) and in response to the negative impact of the pandemic on dementia care in the UK.
The Community has a broad and growing membership of people living with dementia, family carers, care providers and researchers from all health and care disciplines, and has a strong focus on ensuring the voices of people from under-represented communities are heard (this Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issue of the Journal of Dementia Care is one example. Lifetime membership costs just £1 and provides a host of benefits
Learning from leaders in dementia care
Most of the learning offered by Dementia Community follows a ‘little and often’ approach. I host twice-monthly, free-to-attend 1-hour webinars that feature colleagues and/or people with lived experience sharing knowledge and resources to support our sector.
Previous webinars (which you can watch via Dementia Community’s YouTube channel) include:
· The Montessori Way using Dementia Care Coaches
· Cognitive Stimulation Therapy for dementia
· Understanding equality, diversity & inclusion in dementia care
· Benefits of gardening and green spaces for people with dementia and providing year-round accessibility
· Risk assessments and using outside spaces
· An exploration of lies in communication with people who have dementia
· How to use objects as a superpower through Material Citizenship.
I’ve learnt a huge amount about these topics from the speakers who’ve presented their work, including Dr Karan Jutlla and Dr Kellyn Lee, and there are more learning
opportunities ahead including webinars with Playlist for Life and The Validation Training Institute
People living with dementia at the heart of Dementia Community
Some of the best learning I’ve facilitated in my career has come from people living with dementia, so Dementia Community has recently advertised the opportunity to present webinars to DEEP Groups in the hope of securing more speakers who are living with dementia.
Upcoming learning opportunities with people who have dementia that are already confirmed include Irene Donaldson joining Kate Gridley (University of York) to talk about the ground-breaking ‘A Good Life with Dementia’ course, and the 3 Nations Dementia Working Group talking about transport issues for people with dementia.
Keeping up to date with the latest news and events in the dementia sector
Dementia Community provides one of the most comprehensive feeds of dementia news on the internet. It’s a mix of research, headline-grabbing announcements, opportunities to be involved in projects, newly released resources and films and much more.
Recently shared items of interest include:
· The Dementia Innovators Programme
· SCIE LGBTQ+ resources
· DemCon
· RCSLT new dementia guidance
· Film about sleep disturbances and Lewy body dementia
Also not-to-be-missed is the Dementia Community events listing with online and in-person events across the UK and abroad, including many that are free-of-charge.
Immerse yourself in learning at UK Dementia Congress
For a more immersive dementia learning experience, Dementia Community provide the 2-day UK Dementia Congress. Now in its 18th year, UK Dementia Congress is a multi-disciplinary event that brings people together from social care, healthcare and academia alongside individuals living with dementia and family carers. Hopefully I will see you there!
@bethyb1886
bethbritton.com
