The Dementia Training Pathway for Care Homes

A dedicated training pathway for care homes and their staff that can lead to nationally accredited qualifications.

The Partnership for Older People Projects (POPP) in Gloucestershire presented us with an excellent opportunity to prioritise the development and implementation of a dementia training and education pathway for care homes.

Using research evidence and our earlier work developing dementia training and commissioning dementia e-learning, we have built a staged, flexible and sustainable pathway to support individual and organisational needs. The pathway builds knowledge and understanding, is mapped to national standards and can lead to nationally accredited qualifications. At its centre is a 3-file dementia learning resource pack, which has gone out to all care homes in Gloucestershire. Most importantly the pathway is structured to embed learning into everyday practice, through the establishment of dementia link workers (DLW's), so that staff are supported to apply their knowledge of dementia in the workplace.

For information on the role of the Dementia Link Worker including the Dementia Link Worker Training and Support Pathway, view the page below.

The Role of the Dementia Link Worker The Dementia Link Worker (DLW) provides a 'link' between theory and best practice, using the on-site dementia learning pack as a resource to link the theory element of dementia care with the practice in the home. By linking with other staff members they offer support to promote good practice through knowledge and skills, and link with other DLW's for peer support and sharing of ideas.