Skills for Care and Dementia UK have jointly published of a new guide designed exclusively for the social care workforce which aims to spread best practice in supporting family carers of people with dementia.
This short practical guide has hands-on advice for care workers in day centres, domiciliary care, residential care, social work and related roles, and for social care managers, on typical experiences of family and friends who are caring for a person with dementia and the support they need.
It is illuminated throughout with quotes giving real carers’ perspectives. The guide stresses that the social care role is to support the carer as well as the person with dementia, and to supplement the carer’s work, not replace it.
Supporting resources
A complementary guide is also available which outlines the main areas of knowledge that a care worker supporting a person with dementia and their family or friends carers should have.
Published jointly by Skills for Care and Dementia UK, it addresses recognising the signs of dementia, support when there is a diagnosis, social care assessments for both the person with dementia and the carer, living independently as dementia advances, and legal and financial issues care workers need to know about.