With recently released statistics revealing nearly half a million Australians are living with dementia, the University of Tasmania’s Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre is encouraging more people to become better skilled at assisting those with the degenerative condition.
Wicking Centre researcher Dr Maree Farrow said it was essential that more members of the community became better equipped to assist the rapidly rising number of members with a dementia diagnosis.
“Last week, the latest Australian statistics were released revealing that there are nearly half a million Australians living with dementia. Without a medical breakthrough, this number is estimated to double in the next 30 years,” she said.
“With an increasing number of people living with dementia, there will also be an increasing number of families, carers and nurses who support and care for them.”
“And in order to offer the best care, it’s essential that these caregivers are equipped with the right knowledge to understand dementia, its symptoms and how to manage it at different stages.”
Dr Farrow said online education, such as The Wicking Understanding Dementia Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), was an excellent means of upskilling the workforce and family carers, and improving the lives of people living with dementia.
The seven-week online course, which builds upon the latest in international research on dementia, has already had around 120,000 enrolments from more than 180 countries and is aimed at reaching one million people around the world.
The Understanding Dementia MOOC focuses on the brain changes associated with diseases that cause dementia, how these brain changes manifest in cognitive, behavioural and other symptoms, and the latest evidence about what constitutes high quality care.
Understanding Dementia is designed to appeal to people from diverse backgrounds, including families of people with dementia, health professionals, community care and residential facility staff, health policymakers, social scientists, as well as people in the early stages of the disease and individuals with a general interest in dementia.
“The course has given me a better understanding of how to care and communicate with the residents at the aged care facility that I work at,” New South Wales aged care worker Suzanne Wilson said.
The Understanding Dementia MOOC is running now and enrolments for the current course close on 12th March 2018. Anyone interested can register at https://mooc.utas.edu.au/courses
