Dementia patients design new uni course

PEOPLE with dementia have designed a new postgraduate course, telling students what they want them to know about the condition.

They will also be involved in teaching the MSc module, Understanding the Me in Dementia, to health and social care professionals.

Danielle Jones, associate professor in dementia studies at the University of Bradford, where the course starts in September, said: “People with dementia and their carers have been involved in all aspects of our research and teaching.

“We wanted this module to be entirely produced by people who know the most about what it’s like to have dementia so that professionals can learn from them.”

Comments from people involved in designing the course include:

Jacqui Bingham, from Stockport: “I am still me even though I have a diagnosis. Let me be me. Don’t squash me into your box of what you perceive I should be.”

Background

Maq Quereshi, Stoke-onTrent: “Often, professionals treat everyone the same. They don’t know the background of the person, they don’t know what type of industry they’ve worked in and even what type of dementia they have.”

Dory Davies, Flintshire: “Don’t assume. We can still learn new things and people with dementia can still teach others new things.”

Chris Maddocks, Eastbourne: “See the person, not the dementia. Speak to the person, don’t speak to the caregiver.”

Allison Batchelor, from Dundonald, Northern Ireland: “Treat me with respect, I am still me. Don’t presume to know what’s best for me.”

Gerald King, Fife, Scotland: “A good life can be lived even after diagnosis of dementia. Talk to me as a person rather than talking over me or past me, I am still quite capable of having a conversation.”