I read about this four-week online course, “The Many Faces of Dementia,” on lesser-known dementia variants on AlzForum. The course starts on March 14th. The first week is devoted to familiar AD (Alzheimer’s Disease), second week is bvFTD (behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia), third week is DLB (dementia with Lewy bodies), and fourth week is PCA (posterior cortical atrophy). That means the DLB week is March 28th. The course is two hours per week.
According to the course’s organizer, FutureLearn, the course has these objectives:
“In this free online course you’ll discover some of the key issues in dementia care and research by exploring four less common forms of dementia through the eyes of people affected by the condition, and world-leading experts at UCL. We’ll show how research into the signs, stages, symptoms and causes of less common forms can bring us closer to the aim of defeating dementia.”
Here’s a description of week 3 on DLB:
“Week 3 – What if dementia makes you see things that aren’t there?
Some people with dementia experience hallucinations, and many describe fluctuations in their symptoms over time. These aspects are particularly clear in dementia with Lewy bodies, which you’ll learn about in Week 3.”
This addresses who should attend:
“The only requirement is an interest in dementia, its effects on people and the brain. We hope that this course will be of particular interest to:
* Anyone who works with people diagnosed with dementia
* People who have a friend or family member who has dementia
* People in the early stages of the disease
* Students with an interest in learning more about dementia”
You can get some general background on the creation of the course here (AlzForum):
alzforum.org/news/community-
And you can sign up for the free course here:
https://www.futurelearn.com/
Please share whatever you learn!
Robin