Partners in Care: A Training Package for Involving Families in Dementia Care Homes

Following admission to a care home, family and friends may feel uncertain as to how they now 'fit in' to their loved one's life. This training package, comprising a booklet and DVD, is designed to encourage family participation in the care home and develop a constructive partnership between staff in care homes, families and people with dementia.

The DVD and booklet provide material for four separate training sessions for use by mixed groups of relatives and care home staff. Each session explores a different theme: sharing information, sharing the care, developing supportive relationships and making it work. With a clear and flexible layout, group exercises and notes for the facilitator, this training package will enable professionals and relatives to develop positive and fulfilling ways of working together and improve the level of care for those with dementia.

This practical training package complements the book Involving Families in Care Homes: A Relationship-Centred Approach to Dementia Care (Woods, Keady & Seddon) and will be an essential resource for improving relationships between care home professionals, family members and residents with dementia.

Bob Woods is Professor of Clinical Psychology of Older People at Bangor University, and co-director of the Dementia Services Development Centre Wales. John Keady is Professor of Mental Health Nursing and Older People at the University of Manchester/Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust. He is Co-Editor of the Sage journal Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice. Helen Ross is a clinical psychologist with the Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust. Clare Wenger is Emeritus Professor of Gerontology at Bangor University.