Working with people living with dementia can be both rewarding and demanding. Time pressures and ever-increasing workloads massively impact on our abilities to connect and communicate with people, especially those living with dementia. 

Empowered Conversations : Professionals covers Tier 1, 2 and 3 of Communication, Interaction and Behaviour in Dementia Care (Dementia Training Standards Framework).  The course offers flexible face to face or online courses to suit your workplace, offering participants a chance to pause, reflect on how they communicate and explore different ways to connect.

‘The course has given me an insight into how communication with a person with dementia can be a positive event and how to try to avoid feelings of frustration and annoyance’. Prison Officer, HMP Wymott

The Empowered Conversations course is suitable for:

People providing Dementia Care –

  • Dementia Care Managers,
  • Dementia Care Givers :

Domiciliary Care Workers,

Care Home Staff,

Day Care Staff, and

Primary Care Staff.

People whose jobs may bring them into contact with a person with dementia –

  • Health Services – nurses, therapists, pharmacists, care support workers, domestics, district nurses, GP practices etc.
  • Emergency Services,
  • Housing Associations,
  • Prisons housing an older prison population,
  • Those working in retail, services and other public facing occupations.

‘The course has opened up the way we think about communication. Communication is seen as a basic skill, we hadn’t really talked about it. The team are now talking about it in the office, thinking about how they can communicate differently’. Interview with Daniella Bridgford, Therapy Lead and Kelly Stone, Bevan Unit, Salford Royal.

Empowered Conversations offers a practical and immersive course for professionals working with people living with dementia. The course covers Tier 1, 2 and 3 of the Communication, Interactions and Behaviour in Dementia Care (Dementia Training Standards Framework).

The course uses discussions, group work, films, real life examples and sharing stories to explore, reflect and learn as a group. We get people to think about ‘Tuning In’ to the person living with dementia and think about what’s happening for the person right now. The course can be delivered flexibly to meet the needs of the employer, from 3 x 1.5 hour online sessions through to a condensed day course, it covers the following:

* What does it feel like to talk to someone with dementia and what might it feel like for a person living with dementia talking to us?

* What gets in the way of you having the conversation that you want to have?

* Simple to use tips to start conversations.

* What gets in the way of us really listening?

* What’s said without words?

* What have we learnt, what have we changed and what can we celebrate?

People with dementia have made all of the changes they can to stay connected, it’s down to us now to make some changes!

If you would like to bring Empowered Conversations in to your workplace please email
emmasmith@ageuksalford.org.uk