Dementia education for GPs and PNs
It is recommended that all staff who work with people with dementia receive dementia-care training relevant to their role. Training to help optimise the care for people with dementia. [1]
Training should cover:
- Communicating effectively with the person with dementia, their carer(s) and family;
- Recognising, preventing and managing behavioural and psychological symptoms;
- Principles of person-centred care and how this is applied in practice; and
- Preventing and managing suspected abuse or neglect.
See Dementia Australia for clinical tools and training resources.
The following training resources relevant to the care of people with dementia are available online:
Free on-line education
- Understanding Dementia and Preventing Dementia. Massive Online Open Courses. University of Tasmania, Wicking Institute.
- Dementia Education on-line. NSW/ACT Dementia Training Study Centre
- Four Steps to Building Dementia Practice in Primary Care online learning series. Alzheimer’s Australia. Hosted by Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association.​
- How to use the sMMSE.
- Advance Care Planning Australia.
Dementia Practice Guidelines
- Clinical Practice Guidelines and Principles of Care for People with Dementia. NHMRC Partnership Centre for Dealing with Cognitive and Related Functional Decline in Older People 2016.
- Dementia Language Guidelines
Health Pathways
- Western Victoria Primary Health Network Healthpathways.
Dementia health professional educational resources
- Dementia Australia Fact sheets for health professionals
- 10 early warning signs of Alzheimer’s Dementia. Alzheimer’s Association.
- The Brain and Dementia. Alzheimer’s Society.
- 14 essentials for good dementia care in general practice. The University of New South Wales, as represented by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre – Assessment and Better Care 2011
- Understanding differential diagnosis (North West Dementia Centre)
- At Home with Dementia. Resource manual looking at home environment and modifications.
- Dementia and Sensory Challenges – Dementia can be more than memory loss booklet
- The Memory Handbook – A practical guide to living with memory problems
- Future planning and advance care planning – why it needs to be different with people with dementia and other forms of cognitive decline
- Dementia Australia. Palliative care and dementia.
- Dying to Talk a resource provided by Palliative Care Australia
Younger onset-dementia
- Dementia Australia fact sheet
- Younger on-set dementia and the NDIS
Dementia and chronic conditions
- Dementia and chronic conditions series toolkit. Dementia Australia.
Cultural Diversity
- Dementia Care – Cultural diversity
- Australian Indigenous healthinfonet
- Dementia Australia learning resources for ATSI communities
Behaviour changes
- Dementia Support Australia BPSD guide.
Medications
- Medicines and Dementia: What you need to know
- Drug treatments and Dementia
Assessment tools
- Dementia Training Australia. Dementia Outcomes Measurement Suite.
- Dementia Australia - Cognitive screening and assessment
Dementia risk reduction
- Your Brain Matters - Dementia Risk Reduction – information for general practitioners, practice nurses and health professionals
- Healthy brain, healthy life. An online booklet from Dementia Australia
Clinical Practice Guidelines for Dementia in Australia: Recommendations 2016