Available courses

Dementia Training Australia is a website from a consortium of experts in dementia care and workforce training. Funded by the Australian Government, it provides dementia-specific training for aged care, health care professionals, undergraduate trainees, and a range of other professionals and community service providers. The website provides a wide range of evidence-based eLearning training courses and lectures, as well as resources relating to dementia education. DTA also provides design consultancy services to hospitals, and can work with health service organisations to develop tailored training packages.

Understanding Dementia is a free seven week massive online course provided by the Wicking Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania.

Learn about Delirium is a QUT self-paced online course about delirium and delirium superimposed on dementia.

Courses and resources developed by states and territories

New South Wales

The NSW Health Education Training Institute (HETI) provides eLearning modules that include:

• The confused patient: dementia or delirium? – This course was released in 2013 and is an introduction for clinical workers who are not specialised in aged care or mental health.
• Cognitive disability and the criminal justice system – This course was released in 2015 and primarily relates to intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, drug and alcohol related brain damage, autism spectrum disorder, and how to provide support people in or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system.

HETI also provide a simulation for allied health professionals about how to respond to patients who present with behavioural and psychological symptoms associated with dementia and delirium.

NSW Dementia Competency and Training Network is interactive website that delivers online dementia training as well as providing ongoing resources, research updates and support to clinicians. Six online dementia courses are facilitated by dementia clinicians and include discussion forums, real-time online chats, quizzes and self-directed lessons. The site also provides access to dementia care competencies developed for clinicians at essential, enhanced and expert levels.

The NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation has produced a series of videos to help health professionals understand the care needs of a person with intellectual disability. The following are relevant to hospital admissions:

• Improving the experience of hospital for people with intellectual disability
• Intellectual disability and hospitalisation

Western Australia

Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing has a series of modules that include dementia and delirium. The delirium module is a case study focusing on the recognition of delirium in an older Aboriginal person in hospital.

Western Australian Clinical Training Network has produced a simulation video to increase delirium awareness.

Victoria

Older people in hospital from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, is a resource to assist clinicians to improve care and minimise the functional decline of older patients in hospital. It provides tips, clinical information and resources in a number of areas including cognition.

The Victorian Geriatric Medicine Training Program includes modules on delirium, dementia and legal issues such as consent to medical treatment.