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Group photo of all of the staff on the 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 led by the Brighton and Sussex Medical School as part of a multi stakeholder collaboration between teaching colleagues, undergraduate healthcare students, families living with dementia, researchers, administrators, Alzheimer’s Society and other universities. 

Since its inception in 2015, the programme is embedded in the dementia curriculum at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Surrey and the University of Brighton. Students at the University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University started the programme in 2018. In 2020/21 the University of Exeter and University of Plymouth will launch Time for Dementia.

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update for 2020-21

We are very pleased to be able to offer a virtual Time for Dementia experience in this new academic year 2020-21.

Families and students who met prior to lockdown will continue their contact by phone or video calls. A different learning experience, but still an opportunity to gain vital understanding of dementia in these difficult times. 

New students starting Time for Dementia this academic year will meet in groups of 10, with the same family once per term via a facilitated video call to learn the real impact of dementia directly from the experts. 

The team would like to say a huge thank you to all the Time for Dementia families, who have been amazing at adapting to the virtual delivery of the programme and embracing the opportunities to meet with students over the phone or by video calls to share their experiences.

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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

Time for Dementia is a highly ambitious programme and is leading the way in terms of a mandatory component of the curricula in Dementia 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 >

Research 

The Time for Dementia programme is a new method of training students and research is being carried out to assess outcomes with students and families taking part.  

The research component is an optional aspect of the programme and is offered to all students and families taking part. There are two phases to the research, Phase 1; Initial evaluation and Phase 2; Evaluation of the iterative development of Time for Dementia programme.

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 Lauren Wonnacott, Network Manager, on timefordementia@alzheimers.org.uk or 07713 779582.

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 a new 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 starting in September 2021. 

If you or someone you know would like to find out more about getting involved, please contact: 

Alison Smith
Time for Autism Development Manager
T: 07717 450954
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.

Anna Potts 
Patient Educator Lead for Brighton and Sussex Medical School 
T: 07775 832049 – note you may need to leave a message
E: PatientEducatorsGroup@bsms.ac.uk 
W: bsms.ac.uk/patient-educator-group