New dementia diagnosis elearning programme now available

A new elearning programme to support personalised assessment and diagnosis of dementia is now available on Health Education England’s elearning for healthcare Hub.

Assessment and Diagnosis of Dementia: A personalised approach has been developed to support colleagues involved in assessment and diagnosis of dementia to deliver a flexible, person centred service.

The course has been developed in partnership with NHS England and Improvement’s Dementia and Older People’s Mental Health Policy team. 20 sessions within the course cover a range of topics including cognitive assessment, consent and coercion and post diagnosis assessment.

It takes the learner through the process of delivering safe, personalised assessments. This includes face-to-face, telephone and video methods and it identifies good practice at each stage.

At the end of the programme, which takes approximately 15 hours to complete, learners will be able to:

• identify the appropriate mode of communication for the individual client
• identify the most appropriate cognitive assessment for the individual client
• describe the practical considerations for the different modes of assessment

The resource has received support from Professor Alistair Burns, National Clinical Director for Dementia and Older People's Mental Health at NHS England and NHS Improvement.

He said: “This resource has been developed by a multidisciplinary project team with input from people living with dementia and their families. It is a fantastic resource to support memory clinic teams to deliver a blended service model, providing reliable and safe assessments and diagnoses in a way that is personalised to everyone.”

For more information and to access the module, please visit the Remote Assessment and Diagnosis of Dementia: A personalised approach programme page.