LAUSR

With an ageing demographic, the number of people living with dementia in the community is increasing, putting huge pressure on individuals, carers, health and social care services and societies. Collaborative working between the public and voluntary sector is one way to help alleviate this pressure, with the voluntary sector playing an important role in keeping people living with dementia at home for as long as possible. This paper presents a novel training course commissioned by a voluntary sector organisation for 13 of their volunteers who provided a sitting service for people living with dementia. Evaluative questionnaires were completed pre- and post-teaching demonstrating an overall increase in volunteer's knowledge and confidence in working with people living with dementia and increased awareness of the importance of safeguarding. Participants valued being able to learn with other volunteers and share experiences. The course content and methods used were evaluated positively, although the use of roleplay was somewhat divisive. Recommendations were made to increase the rigour of the study by the use of a validated questionnaire, as well as following up the participants to see if their increased knowledge translated into increased competence in their role.