Fife has recently launched a new Dementia Carers Education Programme – designed to equip care partners with the tools, understanding, and confidence to continue their essential role in supporting someone living with dementia.
Why This Programme Matters
As professionals, we see daily how crucial care partners are to the wellbeing and stability of people living with dementia. Their ability to manage changing needs, engage with health and social care systems, and maintain their own resilience can significantly influence outcomes for everyone involved.
This bespoke education programme, developed by NHS Fife, Fife Health & Social Care Partnership, Alzheimer Scotland, Fife Carers Centre, and STAND, directly addresses the needs of care partners by offering structured, practical, and accessible support.
The content of the programme was informed by carers with lived experience, following a wide consultation process with carer partners across Fife.
Programme Objectives
The programme focuses on four key areas:
- Enhancing knowledge and understanding of dementia and its progression
- Building practical caring skills, including daily care, communication, and managing challenges
- Facilitating peer learning and connection, reducing isolation and sharing lived experience
- Introducing local resources, including community services and healthcare navigation tools
Each session is two hours long, held in a relaxed, welcoming environment, and includes time for refreshments and informal conversation. Sessions are interactive, aiming to build confidence through shared discussion rather than formal teaching.
Where and When
Sessions take place weekly on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30pm, rotating between key locations across Fife:
- Fife Alzheimer Scotland Brain Health and Dementia Resource Centre, Kirkcaldy
- St Andrews Community Hospital, St Andrews
- Jean Mackie Centre, Dunfermline
Carers can choose to attend whichever sessions best meet their current needs—there’s no expectation to attend the full series. Carers can also attend sessions again as their journey caring for the person with dementia progresses.
Bringing the Person They Care For
Where possible, carer partners are invited to bring the person they care for with them. In venues where space allows, Alzheimer Scotland staff run tailored, engaging activities for people living with dementia in a separate room. This helps ensure the carer can participate in the session fully, knowing the person they care for is nearby and well supported.
There is no cost to attend, but numbers are limited to 10 participants per session, allowing for meaningful discussion and connection.
Overview of sessions
Here’s a breakdown of the key topics covered. Each session lasts two hours and is interactive and discussion-based, designed to feel supportive and informal.
Recognising Your Role as a Carer
Celebrates the essential role carers play. Covers self-care, resilience, and navigating the emotional impact of becoming a carer.
What Is Dementia and Anticipatory Grief?
Introduces the types of dementia, treatment options, and post-diagnostic support. Offers practical guidance and reassurance to help carers understand the changes ahead.
Carers’ Rights
Empowers carers with knowledge of their legal rights and available support. Topics include benefits, Care Support Plans, Power of Attorney, Guardianship, and the Adults with Incapacity Act.
Supporting Independence
Explores ways to promote autonomy through technology, aids/adaptations, transport, and the role of telecare and social work in enabling quality of life.
Psychological Distress in Dementia
Explores the impact of psychological distress caused by dementia and strategies to manage and support the person being cared for.
Social Care, Social Work and Moving to a Care Home
Provides practical guidance on navigating social care systems, including self-directed support and transitions to residential care.
Effective Communication Strategies in Dementia
Helps carers improve communication, manage misunderstandings, and respond confidently when the person with dementia doesn’t recognise them.
Future Care Planning
Explains how to document care preferences and personal wishes to guide future healthcare decisions and ensure all voices are heard.
Managing Carer Stress
Focuses on mental health and emotional wellbeing. Covers loneliness, resilience, and how to access counselling and peer support.
Caring With Confidence – Part 1
Practical session on key care tasks such as supporting eating and drinking, managing pain, recognising delirium, and being prepared hospital admission.
Caring With Confidence – Part 2
Covers continence, mobility, oral health, foot care, and hearing and vision. Focuses on prevention, comfort, and maintaining wellbeing.
Palliative Care, End of Life, Bereavement and Life After Caring
Supports carers through the final stages of dementia, coping with loss, and finding meaning and purpose in life after caring. Includes real stories from carers with lived experience
Brain Health
Promotes brain health for both carers and the people they care for. Covers risk reduction and lifestyle strategies to support long-term wellbeing.
Feedback from care partners:
“Very helpful information and better understanding of bring a ‘Carer’. It was good to meet and share experiences of being a carer.”
“Such a well delivered event. Presenters and hosts were fab and welcoming. Really informative and interactive, even with my incessant questions. So pleased to have been told about this service. Keep up the good work, all attendees clearly found the session engaging.”
“A welcoming and safe space to be open and share. Exceptionally well facilitated.”
“It is great to hear other people’s stories and experiences and realising we all have similar tales to tell. Facilitator was good at making sure everyone was heard. I liked that mum is engaged elsewhere in the building while I was here.”
Partnership working to support carer partners more effectively
This education programme, built on partnership working with key organisations across Fife, equips care partners with knowledge, confidence, and practical tools. Not only does this improve the wellbeing of carers themselves – reducing stress, isolation, and burnout – but it also directly enhances the quality of life and outcomes for the person living with dementia. This programme is a vital step toward building resilience and connection for care partners across Fife.
Contributor: Helen Skinner, Nurse Consultant for Dementia, NHS Fife helen.skinner@nhs.scot
