Dementia Care

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24 Australian Journal of Dementia Care December 2016/January 2017 Vol 5 No 6
The Government’s announcement
earlier this year of a new streamlined
national dementia training program
for Australia and the appointment in
October of the Dementia TrainingAustralia
consortium as the new dementia training
provider represent the next significant
steps in a journey that began with the
Dementia Training Study Centres (DTSCs)
in 2006.
Over the course of their 10-year history,
with guidance and leadership from
dedicated and passionate people, the
DTSCs evolved from a group of discrete
organisations into a unified and nationally
consistent programdelivering training to
health professionals and facilitating the
translation of dementia knowledge into
day-to-day practice in everyAustralian
State and Territory.
The DTSC program led the national
conversation around translating dementia
research into practice and established a
pathway for dementia training in
Australia.
Having been involved with the DTSCs
since their beginning and being privileged
to Chair their National Leadership Group
since 2013, I’mpleased to have this
opportunity to reflect on the DTSCs’
journey and acknowledge and celebrate
their decade of achievements. It’s a journey
which has followed a knowledge
translation (KT) pathway (Phillipson et al
2014), beginning with training aimed at
raising awareness of dementia knowledge
and ending with a suite of services which
supported sustainable practice change.
First steps
In 2005 theAustralian Government
launched the HelpingAustralians Living
With Dementia and Their Carers: Making
DementiaANational Health Priority
Dementia Initiative, which led to the
establishment of the DTSCs, the Dementia
Collaborative Research Centres (DCRCs),
the Dementia Care Essentials training
program and the Dementia Behaviour
Management Advisory Services (DBMAS).
As part of this initiative the DTSCs were
charged with the role of increasing the
knowledge, understanding and skill level
of health professionals and undergraduate
health care students, with the ultimate aim
of improving the care provided to people
with dementia and their families. The
DTSCs achieved this by developing
dementia training resources, presenting
guest lectures and workshops, contributing
to curriculumdevelopment and providing
scholarships.
Between 2006, when the DTSCs were
established, and 2009 there were four
centres, each with a defined geographical
jurisdiction to support national service
delivery: EasternAustralia DTSC (NSW,
ACT, Queensland), based at the University
of Wollongong; Victoria and Tasmania
DTSC (TIME for dementia), at La Trobe
University; SouthAustralia and Northern
Territory DTSC, hosted byAlzheimer’s
Australia SouthAustralia; andWestern
Australia DTSC, at Curtin University. In
2010 the EasternAustralia DTSCwas
divided to create the NSW/ACT DTSC at
the University of Wollongong and the
Queensland DTSC at Queensland
University of Technology, resulting in
greater coverage and improved access to
services.
The major focus at that time was on
developing and disseminating training
resources including CDs, DVDs, paper-
basedmaterial and a small number of
online modules. Centres also placed great
emphasis on face-to-face training in the
form of workshops and guest lectures.
Evaluation of these activities looked only at
outputs – that is, the number of resources
distributed and the number of health
professionals attending face-to-face
training activities. Although there was a
degree of collaboration with the DCRCs
and DBMAS, this was limited as these
initiatives were in their infancy.
Essentially, in these early days, the
DTSCs’ activities were directed at passing
on dementia knowledge and raising health
professionals’ awareness of the best
available information about the care of
people with dementia.
A new approach to dementia training and support
In September this year Dementia Training Australia (DTA) and
Dementia Support Australia (DSA) were selected by the
Government to deliver a new national program of dementia care
training, education, support and services from 1 October 2016.
The announcement is part of the Government’s new approach to
providing improved programs and services to better support
people with dementia and carers, following a review late last year
that called for a more streamlined national approach (KPMG 2015).
The DTA consortium – led by the University of Wollongong, and
including educators and trainers from five universities and
Alzheimer’s Australia – will deliver the three-year, $28 million
national Dementia Training Program, replacing the Dementia
Training Study Centres and Dementia Care Essentials program.
A consortium led by HammondCare will deliver the new DSA
service, replacing the existing state-based Dementia Behaviour
Management Advisory Services (DBMAS).
On the following pages, AJDC presents an overview of the
dementia training legacy created by the DTSCs (see Dr Margaret
Winbolt’s article below) and takes a look at the future of dementia
care training and support services in Australia, with articles from
each of the DTA and DSA Directors and a report on the DTA
Fellowship Program.
Reference
KPMG (2015) Final report: analysis of dementia programs funded by the
Department of Social Services. Canberra: Australian Government.
Available at:
How the DTSCs established a pathway
for dementia training in Australia
Dr Margaret Winbolt reflects on the important legacy created by Australia’s Dementia
Training Study Centres (DTSCs), from her perspective as Chair of the former DTSC
National Leadership Group and now Dementia Training Director, La Trobe University