Aston University in Birmingham played host to the 17th UK Dementia Congress (UKDC) last week (November 7 & 8) when delegates from every corner of the sector came together for a lively and thought-provoking conference and exhibition.
Celebration and concern
Graham Stokes, from UKDC’s main sponsor HC-One, kicked off the proceedings by reminding the audience of how much had changed in the 30 years since the Journal of Dementia Care was founded. Read more…
Stigma and changing relationships
As always there was a strong academic strand to UKDC and Dr Shirley Evans from our academic partner University of Worcester spoke about the continuing impact of the pandemic on people living with dementia, whose UK numbers are now forecast to be 1.7 million by 2040, an increase of 42% on previous estimates. Read more…
Training is no magic wand
Is staff training a “magic wand” that miraculously produces results for people living with dementia? The answer from Professor Claire Surr, who gave UKDC’s annual Tom Kitwood Memorial Address, was a firm “No”. The thrust of her talk on dementia training and education was that effective training is… Read more…
Ground-breaking co-production
In a ground-breaking master’s degree programme at Bradford University, UKDC’s bronze sponsor, people with dementia have designed, written and partly taught one of the modules. Read more…
Hospital care: better training needed
Staff training in hospitals was one of several themes discussed in a plenary Q&A session in which a panel of experts answered questions put by the audience. A delegate said that ward staff had been unable to distinguish her grandad’s delirium from his dementia and had left the family members to feed him even though they didn’t know how. Read more…