Adult Provider Services
Supporting people who have dementia
What is dementia?
Whether you care for someone as a family member, work in a residential home, a day centre, as part of a domiciliary service or care for someone as their PA, there is a range of learning and development opportunities to support you.
Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) that is associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities. These include:
- thinking
- language
- memory
- understanding
- judgement
People with dementia may also have problems controlling their emotions or behaving appropriately in social situations. Aspects of their personality may change. People may lose the ability to carry out normal everyday activities for themselves.
Resources available to help support your work
Devon County Council has developed training pathways 
(76KB - pdf help) to help you choose training options depending on whether you are new to supporting people who have dementia or have some experience, whether you like to learn using a computer, by reading or in a group; whether you are looking for accredited training or something less formal.
Learning Disability Specific
About 20 per cent of people with a learning disability have Down's syndrome. The prevalence of dementia in people with other forms of learning disability is about four times higher than in the general population. For more information on people with learning disabilities who have dementia click here.
How can the DCC Workforce Development Team help you to support people with learning disabilities who develop dementia?
The Learning Gallery holds current and relevant support material information for individual and team learning and development. Take advantage of our range of learning resources in a variety of formats - books, DVD's, games for team building and training packs.. Click on the topics listed below to read reviews of dementia related resources.
Activities; Awareness Level; Communication; Learning Disabilities and Dementia; Meal times, nutrition and hydration; Particular interest to social workers and commissioners; Person centred care and support; Physical and mental health needs; Resources of interest to family carers; Supporting unusual behaviours.
How to Access the Learning Gallery |
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Email your interest to hrtahelp@devon.gov.uk
Scils have a range of downloadable learning sessions.
Coming soon:
Specialist workshops for Managers or Dementia Champions on topics such as activities, supporting families, nutrition, turning theory into practice.
Carers:
Dementia Awareness pages
