Sandwell College has become the first college in the extended West Midlands area to be accepted into a local Dementia Action Alliance.
As a result students at the college’s Health, Care and Life Sciences Skills & Careers Academy are set to gain an advantage in their university applications with Dementia Friends training.
Universities are now requiring healthcare applicants to have specialist training on the subject. From September the Health and Social Care curriculum will include training which aims to increase dementia awareness within communities and reduce stigma.
Health Care Innovation Lead for Sandwell College, Lesa Jones, who has been seconded from the NHS, has set up vital links with the Alzheimer’s Society to benefit future education and training.
One in four hospital beds are occupied by people with dementia, and by 2020 1.3 million people in the UK will be living with dementia -the same figure as the entire Birmingham population.
