Workshops

Forthcoming workshops

The DSDC team are delighted to announce that we are now able to deliver the Dementia education workshops for family carers and volunteers online. We have delivered in Aviemore, Kingussie, Stornoway and the Highlands to date. Due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19, we will continue to deliver the workshops online until it is safe to return to face to face workshops. If you are interested in hosting a workshop for family carers or volunteers please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

---

The areas we plan to deliver the workshops include:

Stirling

Stornoway

Aviemore

Ullapool

Skye

Dunbar

Orkney

Shetland

If you live in any of these areas or your area is not mentioned above and wish to find out more, please contact us at dementia@stir.ac.uk or on 01786 467740. The project is funded to deliver workshops in rural Scotland and the Islands.

Sheila Sloan attended a DSDC workshop and it had a dramatic effect on her and her husband’s life. Sheila’s husband Ian kindly spoke at DSDC’s International Masterclass in 2019, sharing his experiences before and after the workshop. His presentation, titled ‘Living with dementia: how DSDC changed my life’, can be watched below.

If you are unable to attend a workshop but would like to receive the takeaway resources, the 10 Helpful Hints range, please email us at dementia@stir.ac.uk with your name and postal address. Please note that we only have funding to share these resources free of charge in Scotland.

---

Workshop content

DSDC has created informal educational face to face workshops for family carers and volunteers. Each workshop lasts around four hours and is completely free to attend. Each workshop will cover:

• Understanding dementia.
• Implications of a diagnosis.
• Understanding the impact of the environment.
• Addressing communication issues and strategies that can be used to better understand behaviour, which can help in caring and support roles.
• Preventing stress and distress.
• Managing common symptoms for people living at home.
• Preventing crisis situations leading to inappropriate hospital admissions.
• Promoting support networks through fellow carers and shared experiences.

Workshops are all one off standalone events, which provide informal carers and volunteers with the knowledge and understanding that will support them in their role(s).

The online learning hub (the information found under the ‘Dementia Information’ tab on this website) reflects the content provided in the face to face workshops. The workshops can be used in conjunction with the online hub or the workshops/online hub can be used independently of one another.

---

Testimonials

“Thanks – an excellent day – pitched at the right level”

“I know more after today than I have over the last 8 years”

“I was amazed at how helpful [the] information was considering I worked in the care industry.”