Delivery of education through the Massive Open Online Courses, the Bachelor of Dementia Care, our Diplomas and postgraduate program offer substantial research opportunity into design and delivery of dementia education to different sectors of the community, locally, nationally and globally. A number of research projects are underway which will help us understand what people know about dementia, how to best design educational interventions and the impact of these interventions on knowledge and practice.
Dementia Education for non-traditional students
The Wicking Dementia Centre's Understanding Dementia MOOC has engaged over 260,000 participants since its inception. It is unique in that it enjoys completion rates which significantly exceed those normally seen for MOOCs. We are interested in exploring why this is the case, who takes the Understanding Dementia MOOC and how do they use it? How are we serving the needs of those who have no prior experience of university education? How effectively does the Understanding Dementia MOOC improve knowledge of dementia and how do students of both the Understanding Dementia MOOC and the Bachelor of Dementia Care use this knowledge in the care of those with dementia or in their professional practice?
Development of the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale
The Wicking Dementia Centre has developed a reliable and valid dementia knowledge scale to enable evaluation of dementia knowledge in diverse populations, and to better inform our educational interventions. The Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale (DKAS) pilot work to date indicates that the DKAS is reliable and valid. We are now investigating its use in the assessment of dementia knowledge of professionals and those who care for people with dementia.
Dementia Education for General Practitioners
Dementia is under-diagnosed in Australia and many older people with this condition will never receive a formal diagnosis. It is widely acknowledged that general practitioners (GPs) are pivotal in facilitating early diagnosis of dementia and that attitude and confidence play a key role in influencing practice and dementia care.
The aim of the current research is to develop a reliable and valid tool that measures GP attitudes and confidence in relation to the diagnosis, treatment and management of dementia. Pilot studies to date demonstrate test retest reliability as well as the face, content and construct validity of the survey instrument.
