Dementia Understanding Stress and Distress

Workers in social service settings have told us that they need to be better informed and better skilled to work well with people with dementia. This is partly because of the increased numbers of people with dementia using care settings and/or working with care and support workers. It is also because working closely with people with dementia can present challenges for staff, particularly as an individual’s dementia progresses and their skills in communication, perception and/or processing may be compromised. Care workers, families, carers, friends and communities all need to be more aware of the challenges people with dementia experience and our communication and behaviours must be adapted accordingly.

This app will support the social service workforce to develop knowledge and practice the skills they need:

• to understand what we mean by stress and distress, and;
• to identify the factors which can contribute to people with dementia feeling stressed or/and distressed
• to improve their skills in working with people with dementia who experience stress and distress