Student Training Project in Dementia (STriDe)

This project is funded by the WA Dementia Training Study Centre.

There is a recognized need for a more comprehensive dementia education curriculum to be implemented at Perth's two medical schools. Ideally, this curriculum would ensure that graduate doctors will enter their vocational training with the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to care for people with dementia.

The WA Centre for Health and Ageing is seeking to address this need by undertaking the STriDe project. This project aims to develop a new undergraduate medical curriculum in dementia, which facilitates improved knowledge and skills in the diagnosis and management of dementia, and positive attitudes towards older people with cognitive impairment. The new curriculum will not only focus on what will be taught, but how it will be taught, in order to maximize learning effectiveness.

A range of people will be consulted in the process of developing the curriculum and its associated learning materials. Clinical teachers, nurses, allied health professionals, students, carers and community representatives will all be asked for their input into the content and structure of the new curriculum. This will ensure that it will meet the needs of the student doctors, people with dementia and their carers, and the multi-disciplinary team caring for people with dementia.

This project has been completed and adopted by the University of Western Australia's medical school.