Researchers Asking For Help From Adult Social Care Providers

Leeds Beckett University’s Centre for Dementia Research are seeking help from adult social care providers for their latest research about dementia training for the social care workforce.

The project has been commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society to explore the current landscape of dementia education and training among the adult social care workforce in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is asking care home and home care providers to complete a survey about the dementia training that they offer to staff. The findings will be used to inform Alzheimer’s Society’s future policy and campaigning work in their mission to ensure the adult social care workforce is fully equipped to provide high-quality, person-centred care for people living with dementia.

Participation is in the form of an anonymous online audit survey accessed here, and should take around 20 minutes to complete.The survey will be open until 9am on Sunday 31 August.

The research is being conducted by Centre for Dementia Research academics Professor Sarah Smith and Professor Claire Surr, in partnership with IFF Research.

Professor Surr said:
“It is widely accepted that staff working in social care need the right knowledge and skills to deliver good care to people living with dementia.”

“This is an important piece of research exploring what dementia education and training adult social care staff are currently able to access. It will also look at any barriers and supportive factors that social care providers identify when making dementia training available to their staff.”

“The aim is to provide robust information to the Alzheimer’s Society about both good practice in dementia education and training in the sector, alongside the challenges providers face in ensuring their staff are skilled to deliver good dementia care.”

“We hope as many adult social care providers as possible will complete the survey. We want to hear from providers whether they offer no or limited dementia training, through to awareness level or more in-depth programmes. All this will help us get a clear picture of what is happening in the sector and how they can be best supported to develop their workforce.”