New guide launched to support dementia care workers

Care workforce development experts Skills for Care have this week launched a ‘Supporting Dementia Workers’ guide, dedicated to realising the potential of social care employers throughout England when facing the growing challenges of dementia care.

An ageing demographic is the chief cause of strain upon the UK’s healthcare services, with the Coalition Government poised to debate the financing of care reform this summer in order to answer the funding challenge of a condition that is expected to double over the next thirty years. Currently the Department of Health estimates 670,000 in England to be living with the effects of dementia.

Estimating this number to grow to 1.7m by the middle of the century, Skills for Care calculates the care sector will require half a million extra workers in order to cope with demand and have released the guide in order to coincide with National Dementia Week.

CEO Sharon Allen commented: “Skills for Care is backing National Dementia Week because we need to make sure that everyone who works in our sector has a very clear understanding of the needs of people with dementia.

“We are backing our commitment by launching a user friendly guide that uses real life case studies to help workers in our sector really understand what they can do to make sure that people with Dementia get the best and most dignified care possible.”

Skills for Care research finds that 82% of adult social care workers in England are female, while only 12% of employees are from black and minority ethnic groups.