1 December 2008 Good Evening

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Dementia Care - an Introduction to the Jewish Care Project

In August 2002 Middlesex University published the findings of a research project on the work of Jewish Care. One of their recommendations was that that there needed to be further training for staff in communication skills and person centred approaches. In April 2003, using standards developed by the Alzheimer’s Society, an audit was completed.

High standards of maintaining personal care for people with dementia were reported for resources across the organisation. However the audit also highlighted a number of areas for improvement and these included dementia training for staff and volunteers, care planning, the environment, and the development of person centred activities for people with dementia.

To help implement the recommendations Jewish Care sought and was successful in achieving funding from Skills for Care to set up the Dementia Care Development Project. The funding was for a period of about 2 years and covered the salaries of the Project Manager and 2 full time Practice Development Workers.

The team set out their aspirations in detail and they included a holistic approach to improvement in services to people with dementia. The project plan aimed to really imbed learning among all staff and volunteers in the organisation. A set of dementia care standards were implemented.

The plan included raising awareness that the people with dementia retain sacrosanct personal and interpersonal values and these views and values must be respected and listened to. This is achieved through the training and education strategies described in the evaluation document.

The difficulties people with dementia face in having their views understood and what staff can do to facilitate this understanding is always explored in training workshops.

A systematic competency based learning and development programme in dementia care was introduced. It is planned to consider how the training programme can be linked to qualifications for staff working in dementia care.

The outcomes of the project demonstrate the benefits of a systematic and in depth training strategy, which has led to people working differently. The role of a dementia care co-ordinator has also been successfully developed.