Dementia Awareness Training

The East Dunbartonshire Dementia Network offers opportunities to people living, working and volunteering within the local authority area to receive Dementia Awareness Training.

Dementia Awareness Training Tailored to your Organisation’s Needs:

  • Information about dementia, signs and symptoms, progression of the illness
  • The impact on everyday life, eg. some people may need extra time to do a task or need support with completing a task
  • Recognising when things change for customers they see regularly
  • Understanding the emotional support needs of people with dementia and their carers
  • How to communicate effectively
  • Knowing when to ask for help from a colleague
  • What help is available for people with dementia and how to refer them to services for example the East Dunbartonshire Dementia Network
  • Bespoke topics for particular staff groups, eg. transport, health, retail, voluntary organisations etc.

Benefits of Dementia Awareness Training

  • Increases staff understanding of people’s needs and the effect of dementia on their behaviour eg. sensory loss, confusion, memory loss
  • Improves the customer experience, ensuring continued attendance or patronage of the person with dementia and their carer
  • It allows staff to feel they are doing a better job by meeting customers’ needs
  • It provides staff with insights into dementia that may help them in both their personal and working lives
  • When staff understand the needs of people with dementia the same skill set can be transferred to other groups eg. older people, people with additional needs etc.

This awareness raising training lays the foundations for organisations to connect with the people in their community and is part of East Dunbartonshire’s vision to becoming dementia friendly. A Dementia Friendly Community enables people to maintain their social networks so they can continue to belong by Accessing Community Support and by staff having an understanding of the condition and treating people with dementia with dignity and respect.