TWELVE members of the Fenland Lodge care home undertook a training course to help them work with dementia sufferers – and all passed with flying colours. The intensive course called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is an Alzheimer Society training programme,

TWELVE members of the Fenland Lodge care home undertook a training course to help them work with dementia sufferers - and all passed with flying colours.

The intensive course called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is an Alzheimer Society training programme, and is divided into eight one-and-a-half-hour sessions.

Training co-ordinator Robert Lindsay said: "The course is all about person-centred care. This means thinking about what the dementia is doing to the patient and good person-centred care is about treating others with the respect with which you would like to be treated. This gives the dementia sufferer a better quality of life and makes the carer's work more rewarding."

Students learn about different aspects of dementia and hear from dementia sufferers, their families and carers on a DVD.

The course finished with a multiple choice exam, which had a 72 per cent pass mark. Three people achieved a maximum score and the other nine passed, with nobody scoring under 85 per cent.

Mr Lindsay said: "We will keep running the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow course and ensure that every member of our staff takes it.