Introduction to the Course

1. Introduction

Welcome to Home Based Care - Home Based Education. This is a seven week course designed to give you more knowledge about dementia, and greater confidence in your care situation.  

Each week you will work through a set of new materials on specific topics directly related to caring for a family member with dementia.

There will be between 80 and100 people enrolled in this course, and you will be interacting with them and your course tutors in a variety of ways over the week ahead.

We invite and encourage you to take part in a series of Discussion Forums, live Video Meetings, and Questionnaires as you progress through the course. You will also have the opportunity to submit Care Delivery Action plans on a weekly basis, starting next week.

2. Weekly topic guide

The running order for the course is as follows:

Week 1: Welcome and Induction: you will get the chance to meet your fellow participants and the course tutor for the first time via the Discussion Forums and the Live Video Meeting. You will also find out a little more about the course topics and timetable of topics.
Week 2: Dementia and Looking After Yourself: we will look at Dementia, what it is and how it manifests itself.  We will also then examine the importance of you the carer looking after yourself.
Week 3: Changing Relationships and Accessing Information: we will look at how dementia can lead to changes in relations within the family. The second part of the week will examine and outline the range of supports available to people like yourselves who are caring for a person with dementia. 
Week 4: Communication and Staying Active: we will look at why and how communication is at the heart of good dementia care, and we will examine the importance of encouraging the person with dementia that you care for to stay healthy and active.
Week 5: Responsive Behaviours and Safety at Home: we will examine how dementia can alter patterns of behaviour in the person with dementia. We will look at the reasons for that, and also set out how you the carer can try to respond to these behaviours that challenge. We will look at tips and resources to ensure you provide one-to-one care in a safe, hazard-free environment.
Week 6: Personal Care and Nutrition and Eating Well: we will look at the provision of personal care, including washing, dressing, toileting and dental care. We will also examine the importance of food, drink and nutrition. 
Week 7: Course Review and Next Steps: We will be summarising the course, and you will get a chance to plan any next steps you feel you need to take as you continue your caring journey.

3. Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, learners will have had an opportunity to:

1. Discuss the main types and stages of dementia and the impact on families
2. Identify positive ways of promoting and maintaining relationships between the person with dementia and their carer, and also within families affected by dementia
3. Explore the barriers relating to communication that can arise for the person with dementia and their carer
4. Identify techniques to recognise, prevent and respond to changes in behaviour in a positive way
5. Explore the range of meaningful activities that could be provided for the person with dementia taking account of their background and interests
6. Develop strategies to promote a positive dietary experience for people at different stages on their dementia journey
7. Recognise when the person with dementia may require support with personal care and identify positive techniques and care skills to support the person
8. Develop strategies to maintain independence and safety in the home
9. Identify awareness of the range of support services available to family carers
10. Develop strategies to ensure the family carer remains healthy, seek and accept support.

4. What is Moodle Workplace?

This may be the first time you have done an online course. We are using a Learning Management System called Moodle Workplace. Moodle Workplace has many advantages for providers like The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. It allows us to:

• build flexible education and training courses that can be utilised by students at a time that best suits them
• place video and text on a website to share with our students
• communicate in various ways through Forums, Live Chat and through the use of interactive activities like polls and surveys
• set short Quiz assignments for our students

Moodle Workplace has the great advantage in that you the student can access the course at a time that suits you best.

It is confidential and private - only people that we have enrolled can see the Moodle pages.

Video available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0X3FkrOCKM

5. Meet the team!

Hello from your teaching team!

Teaching Team Members

Tutor: Julie Greene E: julieelizabeth.greene@alzheimer.ie	Tutor: Therese Shannon E: therese.shannon@alzheimer.ie
Tutor: Angelica Kayode E: angelica.kayode@alzheimer.ie	Tutor: Mary Bolger E: asiathy@alzheimer.ie
Course Coordinator: Philippa Evans E: philippa.evans@alzheimer.ie	Tutor: Grace Corkery E: grace.corkery@alzheimer.ie

Why not take the time to introduce yourself in the Week 1 Forum Let's get to know each other activity.

6. Finding Your Way Around Moodle

Take a look at this short video. It will help you get to know your Moodle environment.

So, now let's explore the rationale and the teaching and learning approach we will use on this course.

7. How this course works

This is a participatory course. By sharing your experiences confidentially with other members of your online class, we are hopeful that this course  can be rewarding and beneficial for all of you.

We feel that Teaching and Learning is a two-way street.

Our commitment to you:

• Provide a format and structure to the various topics on the course
• Encourage and facilitate discussion through various activities
• Answer your queries and posts in good time, usually within 24 hours - not including weekends when our tutors are not working
• Make sure you are comfortable participating on the course
• 
  

What we ask in return

• Participate in the activities and ask questions if you are stuck
• Try to connect ideas and concepts we will tell you about to your experience in the real world of family caring
• Share your experiences on the forums so that others can learn from them
• Respect other participants privacy by not sharing any of the disclosed information on any external sites or social media

8. Moodle Workplace: some basic tips

• You can work through the course content at your own pace and you can check your progress with our checkboxes which donate activity completion
• There are two types of checkboxes:
  • a solid border  
  • a dotted border 
• For items with a solid line border, you must manually click the box when you are confident you have read and understood the course content. In this course, items you must read have a checkbox with a solid line border.
• For boxes with a dotted line border, the tick appears automatically when you have completed the activity. In this course items requiring input from you, such as submitting a quiz, have a checkbox with a dotted line border.

9. Pause and Reflect

How is it going so far? Take a little time to think about what you have achieved this week as you prepare for the course ahead. 

Have you any problems logging onto Moodle? Raise any queries you may have in Any technical issues? activity.

Have you uploaded a photo of yourself?

Have you posted an introduction about who you are in the Week 1 Forum Let's get to know each other activity?

Can you navigate your way around the site? Get in touch if you need to. We are happy to support you and help you settle onto the course. You can use the Week 1 Forum Any technical issues? activity to raise any questions.

10. Start Moodling!

Exercise 1 – Edit Your Profile

Your Profile settings allow you to customise how you view elements of the course.

They also allow you to post up a picture of yourself, which the class will see when they communicate online with you. We think it is good practice in an online course for you to post up a picture of yourself.

To do so, you need to Edit Your Profile.

Exercise 2 – Introduce Yourself

11. Voluntary Donations Welcome!

This course is provided free of charge to you.

However, if you feel inclined you can make a donation to The Alzheimer Society of Ireland by clicking here.

Many thanks in advance!

We do hope you enjoy the course.