Funded by: The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
Principal Investigator: Prof. Tamara Carver
Co-Investigators: Dr. José Morais, Dr. Serge Gauthier, Prof. Isabelle Gélinas, Dr. Claire Godard-Sebilotte, Claire Webster, Dr. Gerald Fried
Partnerships: The Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Dementia Education Program; the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning (SCSIL) and the Office of Education Technology and E-Learning Collaboration for Health (Ed-TECH) for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) at Æ»¹ûÒùÔº.
Project Description:
TOTAL eLearning research project comprises the development of the bilingual Dementia Education For Care Partners online education program. The program addresses the multidisciplinary concerns of informal (family/friend) care partners of people living with dementia (PLWD). Through 10 interactive online modules with embedded real life scenarios, the program follows participants through their learning journey over 10 weeks and analyses the evolution of their dementia knowledge confidence, selfcare skills, and self-evaluation of preparedness to face the next stages of the illness in the person they are caring for.
Based on pre-existing in-person workshops offered by the Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Dementia Education Program. It includes additional content to guide care partners through the challenges resulting from the COVID‑19 pandemic and associated public health measures.
Developed in collaboration with the Dementia Education Program, the program seeks to educate and support care partners in contact with various stages of the illness (from diagnosis to end-of-life care), in an accessible language in an engaging educational experience. The goal is to also connect learners to additional external resources so they can build for themselves a strong base of knowledge adapted to their needs and capacity. The project also includes a community building component, through online exchange discussion forums, virtual synchronous sessions, and optional online conference and Q&A support sessions.