Families affected by dementia in Sussex are invited to take part in an award-winning programme to improve dementia care. Time for Dementia pairs families affected by dementia with undergraduate students studying healthcare, helping the students to gain a better understanding of living with dementia, and develop skills to provide better care for patients and their families. We are currently looking for families in Sussex to have pairs of Medical Students studying at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School situated at the University of Sussex.
Designed to create a new generation of health care professionals, students visit a family affected by dementia in pairs over a two-year period, which provides a unique opportunity to see people affect by dementia in their own home. The visits are designed to enable students to see how a diagnosis of dementia can affect people and the challenges and changes that they may face over time. The students also receive supporting tutorials and lectures. Families will be visited by Alzheimer’s Society initially to explain the programme in more detail and answer any questions. Families taking part can expect to see the same pair of students up to 6 times over the course of 2 years of the students’ studies, with each visit lasting between 1-2 hours.
The Time for Dementia programme has been embedded as a core component of the curriculum at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and University of Brighton along with universities across Kent, Surrey and Devon with a range of undergraduate health care students. So far, more than 1,800 families and 4,900 students have taken part in the programme.
You can hear what some of our families think about taking part here https://youtu.be/EvdE85OFz0s
Evaluation of the programme has shown huge improvements in students’ knowledge and attitude towards dementia. Additionally, students report that they have gained knowledge of what it might be like to live with dementia; that their confidence and skills in communicating with people with dementia has improved; and that they have more awareness of the role of carers.
Horsham Trafalgar Neighbourhood Council 