With the deadline to apply to study one of our distance learning modules rapidly approaching (20th July, don’t miss out!), the Association for Dementia Studies held a webinar on 23rd June to discuss our Postgraduate Certificate in Person-Centred Dementia Studies, our Postgraduate Award in Professional Development, and the individual modules. A recording of the webinar is available if you missed it, but an overview is provided below for additional information. To support the webinar, the Module Leads have also recorded short video clips to introduce themselves and their modules, which you can see on the modules page of our website. As with the webinar, the video clips were produced during lockdown with no technical support (or haircuts), so please be kind!
Working from seven different home locations, five of the Module Leads and two further members of the ADS team came together online to deliver the webinar. Professor Tracey Williamson opened the webinar, welcoming around 40 participants and outlining the format of the session. She was followed by Professor Dawn Brooker who provided some background to the development of our online offer, and set out our guiding principles when delivering our modules.
Being the Module Lead for ‘Person-Centred Leadership: The VIPS Approach’, Professor Brooker also took us through an overview of her module, which is the only mandatory module within the Postgraduate Certificate. This 15 credit, 12-week module can also be studied as a standalone module, and is one of those available to study from September 2020.
The two other modules beginning in September are ‘Supporting People with Advanced Dementia’ and ‘Enabling Environments for People Living with Dementia’, which were presented in turn by their respective Module Leads Mary Bruce and Teresa Atkinson. Both can be studied as standalone modules by those with a particular interest in these areas, or can be used to count towards the Postgraduate Certificate.
Next up was Dr Isabelle Latham who is leading on the module ‘Expert Practice in Delivering Person-Centred Dementia Care’ which is based around implementation of the FITS into Practice programme. As Izzie explained, this module is slightly different as it is a double module over two semesters, giving 30 credits. Starting in January 2021, students would undertake 12 weeks of study, deliver one cohort of FITS into Practice training and support over the summer months, then come back for the second 12 weeks in September 2021. As well as counting towards the Postgraduate Certificate, this module in its own right would make students eligible for the Postgraduate Award.
The final two 15 credit modules covered during the webinar also begin in January 2021, and are ‘Engagement and Empowerment in Dementia Studies’ and ‘Dementia in the Family Context’. As Chris Russell, Module Lead for the former, was unavailable Mary Bruce presented on his behalf, followed by Professor Tracey Williamson who is leading the latter module. As with all of our modules, these can form part of the Postgraduate Certificate or be studied as standalone options, meaning that if you are interested in studying with us but not sure about committing long-term, you can start by studying a single module to see how you get on and build up to the full Certificate once you feel more comfortable.
After the formal presentations, webinar participants were invited to ask questions of the team. Rather than repeating them here, please see the final 10-15 minutes of the recording to find out more about the questions and related answers. You can also see a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the modules, which will be updated as new questions are raised.
Hopefully what came across during the webinar is that each Module Lead is a specialist in their area, and is driving forward their modules with knowledge, enthusiasm and a passion for their topic. We’re really excited to be delivering this range of modules and look forward to seeing some of you in due course if you decide to study with us. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions. You can either use our central email address dementia@worc.ac.uk, or the addresses for individual Module Leads are given below.
- MDEM4001, Professor Dawn Brooker – d.brooker@worc.ac.uk
- MDEM4003, Dr Isabelle Latham – i.latham@worc.ac.uk
- MDEM4004, Mary Bruce – m.bruce@worc.ac.uk
- MDEM4005, Teresa Atkinson – t.atkinson@worc.ac.uk
- MDEM4006, Dr Chris Russell – c.russell@worc.ac.uk
- MDEM4007, Professor Tracey Williamson – t.williamson@worc.ac.uk
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