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A group photo of the Time for Dementia team
Brighton & Sussex Medical School

Time for dementia

Time for Dementia

About us

Time for Dementia is a programme to develop, deliver and evaluate an innovative educational initiative, a longitudinal programme in dementia. 

Time for Dementia is a ground-breaking dementia educational programme developed by Brighton and Sussex Medical School in partnership with Alzheimer's Society. Since its inception in 2015, the programme is being delivered at eleven universities and across a range of different healthcare training programmes.

The Time for Dementia programme is implemented at:

  • Brighton & Sussex Medical School
  • University of Brighton
  • University of Surrey
  • University of Chichester
  • Kent & Medway Medical School
  • University of Exeter
  • Southampton Medical School
  • Bournemouth University
  • University of Portsmouth
  • University of the West of England
  • Ulster University
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 “…just because someone has dementia doesn’t mean that they’re, you know, that they’re not clever or they don't have a sense of humour or they don't understand what you’re saying to them.”  - Time for Dementia student
3 people in a group sitting around a table in discussion

Education

The concept of Time for Dementia was conceived to provide undergraduate healthcare students with understanding, empathy, knowledge and compassion to support families living with dementia in the future.

more on our Dementia Education Programme >

The expansion of Time for Dementia

Since its inception in 2015, the Time for Dementia programme has been implemented in several universities and has involved a wide range of healthcare disciplines across the UK. By involving families with lived experiences of dementia, the programme aims to enhance positive attitudes and greater awareness of dementia in the healthcare workforce of the future. 

More on the expansion of the time for dementia programme >

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How to get involved

If you are a family living with dementia and are interested in taking part in the programme, please do watch our short film and contact the Alzheimer’s Society on timefordementia@alzheimers.org.uk.

If you are a Higher Education Institution and would like to know more about running the programme with your students, please contact Thabrez Khan on Thabrez.Khan@alzheimers.org.uk.

See more in our promotional film about our Time for Dementia programme in our video below.

Research 

The Time for Dementia programme was designed to enhance healthcare students understanding of dementia during their undergraduate education. 

To evaluate the real- world impact that the Time for Dementia programme has on the students and families taking part, a research study is ongoing to understand:

  • Student learning outcomes
  • Student experiences and satisfaction taking part
  • Families experiences and satisfaction taking part
  • To inform the iterative development and continuous improvement of the programme in new and existing university sites  

more on the Time for Dementia Research Programme >

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Publications

The Time for Dementia team have had their work published in several different health care journals. New papers will be listed here as they are published. 

Dementia team publications  >

Group photo of all of the staff on the dementia team

Videos

The Time for Dementia team have made several films about the programme, including views from the student participant perspective and from the family participant perspective. Watch our latest film here.

Contact us

Information for families

Queries from families living with dementia about taking part in the Time for Dementia programme should be directed to  timefordementia@alzheimers.org.uk. Research queries

Queries about the research element of the Time for Dementia programme should be directed to Dr Stephanie Daley, Evaluation Lead, on timefordementia@bsms.ac.uk.

Other queries

All other queries can be emailed to Denise Roden, Project Officer, on timefordementia@bsms.ac.uk.

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Other projects/groups at BSMS

There are a number of other teaching initiatives outside of Time for Dementia at BSMS that you may like to be involved with. We are always delighted to welcome new volunteers so please find some information about these below. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact us for further details.

Time for Autism

We are looking for families in Brighton and Hove and neighbouring parts of Sussex to take part in our autism education programme at BSMS designed to teach medical students about autism. This is an exciting opportunity for families with a child on the autism spectrum to share experiences and expertise with medical students, to help them provide better care in the future. Each family will be paired with two medical students who will visit them at home three times over the course of a year. If you or someone you know would like to find out more about getting involved, please contact: 

Alison Smith
Time for Autism Development Manager

E: sc-tr.timeforautism@nhs.net
W: bsms.ac.uk/time-for-autism 

Patient Educator Group

The Patient Educator Group members are involved in various learning activities at BSMS. Volunteers decide how they may like to be involved and this may include sharing experiences of living with chronic health conditions, or being an unpaid carer. The group also provide opportunities for students to practice taking medical histories, basic examinations or help role play health scenarios. All of these activities are highly valued by the students and help them develop key communication and clinical skills. 

The Patient Educator Group members are also involved in interviewing applicants to BSMS, to help us select which individuals are offered a place to study medicine here. If you would like to know more, please contact us, as we would be delighted to answer your questions and welcome any new volunteers.

E: PatientEducatorsGroup@bsms.ac.uk 
W: bsms.ac.uk/patient-educator-group

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Time for Autism

Time for Autism is a ground-breaking education programme that aims to transform healthcare for autistic people by increasing the knowledge and understanding of medical students. 

More on our Time for Autism programme >