Lecturer Jacqueline McAllister, who co-ordinates the Higher Education Level Health and Social Care courses at the campus, explained that she was on an Erasmus study visit to the Netherlands in 2019 to learn about best practice for patients with dementia.
“The Danes are leading the way when it comes to caring for the elderly and particularly patients with dementia. Unfortunately, the planned follow-up visit for students couldn’t go ahead because of the pandemic so we came up with an alternative and invited Paulie Van Den Bosch, a leading exponent of care of the elderly, to give a virtual live streamed lecture to our Health and Social Care students.
Jacquie continued: “Paulia told the students about some of the initiatives that are allowing dementia patients to live independently in purpose-built care settings in the Netherlands.
“She talked about the success of the dementia friendly village concept that that shown that when people with dementia, even those with challenging behaviour, are in familiar settings, their behaviour changes and consequently, their medication can be reduced.”
Jacqui added that Paulia’s virtual lecture was a very informative and interactive learning session:
“This was a great opportunity for our students to hear first-hand about best practice in another country.”