Dementia and changed behaviours; a person-centred approach – expression of interest

This free educational program is designed for nurse champions and pharmacists working in residential aged care facilities and will provide knowledge and tools to help optimise person-centred care for people with dementia and changed behaviours. Nurses and pharmacists will earn CPD hours for their participation in this program.

The program will also support residential care providers to deliver safe effective care and meet their regulatory requirements (Aged Care Quality Standards).

Residential aged care providers are invited to nominate 2 registered nurses and 1 pharmacist to participate in a facilitated education program which includes:

• one initial 4 hour visit followed up by a subsequent 2 hour visit. These can be delivered face-to-face or virtually and are run by our educational visiting service
• an online lecture with supporting workbook on person-centred care, delivered by registered nurse and health educator, Professor Lynn Chenoweth
• monthly ongoing support throughout.

The education program will cover:

• Applying a person-centred approach in the management of changed behaviours, to deliver improved health outcomes for people with dementia with changed behaviours.
• Developing person-centred management plans that involve the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and include non-pharmacological strategies to assist in improving behaviours.
• Identification of the limited role of antipsychotics and/or benzodiazepines in the short-term management of people with dementia and changed behaviours.
• Reviewing and monitoring people who are taking antipsychotics and benzodiazepines medicines to assess the risk of harm and potential benefits of deprescribing.
• Reviewing individual residential aged care facility systems for the management of people with dementia to identify areas for quality improvement in harm minimisation
• Practical on-the-job peer-to-peer teaching.