Positive about Dementia; POSADEM. A Pan-European project developing shared Masters level modules in dementia
Authors: Collier, E. and Heaslip, V.
Conference: 5th European Conference on Mental Health
Dates: 14-16 September 2016
Abstract:Background Around 9.9 million people in Europe have dementia and its impact on the physical psychological and economical health of families makes it a public health priority (WHO & Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2012). There is poor understanding in most countries and lack of training and education, which can lead to nihilistic attitudes, stigma and abuse (WHO, 2011). The European Commission has called for a systematic approach for improving professional awareness of dementia, as high quality inter-professional services require an educated workforce (Hall et al., 2011). Objectives This poster aims to describe the structure of pan European project developing a masters qualification in dementia. Methods Six universities: University of Salford (lead) (UK), Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (Austria), Dublin City University (Ireland), Maastricht University (Netherlands), Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and Bournemouth University (UK) are working together in partnership to develop the programme, funded by the European Life Long learning programme. Results Three core modules with international team membership have been found to be the most effective way to develop this programme and these will be integrated with university specific programmes to provide the opportunity for an internationally focused masters degree. Conclusions POSADEM (positive about dementia) offers a pan European master’s qualification in dementia based on a human rights approach which will be launched in Sept. 2016. References WHO & Alzheimer’s Disease International (2012). Dementia. A public health priority http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/dementia_report_2012/en/index.html WHO (2011) European report on preventing elder maltreatment. Edited by D.Sethi et al. http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-publish/information-for-the-media/sections/latest-press-releases/new-whoeurope-report-an-estimated-10-000-old-people-physically-abused-every-day Hall, S., et al. (eds) (2011) Palliative care for older people: better practices. WHO, Copenhagen
Source: Manual