Service evaluation of a dementia training and support package into care homes

Abstract

Around half a million people are in residential care in the UK, with estimates suggesting 80 per cent have dementia. Behaviours that challenge which commonly occur in people with dementia are difficult for care home staff, many of whom have no direct career paths and limited training opportunities, to understand and manage. We designed a dementia training package which involved four modules and took two and a half hours to deliver. This training package was trialled into six care homes in Kingston-Upon-Hull who had been regular referrers into secondary mental health care. In total, 123 care home staff attended the training and feedback was very positive with 100 per cent of participants agreeing that the training was useful for their development, they learnt new knowledge and could apply their learning. We additionally collected qualitative data from care home staff on the content of the training. There was a 54 per cent reduction in total referrals to the local community mental health team in the 12-months post-training compared to the 12-months preceding. We discuss challenges to implementing the training during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as consider potential future developments.