< Back to the Generic Service Intervention: Dementia Competency Framework

theLearningpharmacy.com™ is an interactive online learning environment offering bite-sized learning activities to help community pharmacy teams develop together and deliver better outcomes for patients. This is an interactive e-learning package that is run by the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) and offers a wide range of fun interactive learning opportunities for the pharmacy workforce.

Each learning activity is linked to one of 10 community pharmacy scenarios which appear as ‘hotspots’ on theLearningpharmacy.com floor plan. These are the large green question marks on the pharmacy floor for the learning topic you have chosen. Each learning topic will provide learning challenges for six or more hotspots.

The challenges cover a wide range of interactive learning; there are videos to watch, quizzes to complete and role play scenarios to take part in. You can choose how to approach the challenge, depending on your role within the team, and whether you are learning on your own, as part of a group, or using it as a teaching resource.

For dementia, these include for pharmacists, pre-registration graduates and technicians:

• Therapeutic challenge & prescription intervention – dealing with a patient with swallowing difficulties
• Communicating with GPs or other healthcare professional – care home staff seeking information on administering medicines covertly
• Patient presents with a new prescription – initial prescription for acetylcholine esterase inhibitor medication
• Requests for OTC medication - herbal and alternative remedies in dementia
• Public engagement outside of the pharmacy – Transfer of care for patients with dementia between hospital and care homes

And for the whole pharmacy team:

• Responding to patients' queries about long term conditions or medicines - medication adherence in dementia patients
• Patient self care and public health advice – How might the early signs of dementia be identified in community pharmacy and what advice could be given?
• Communicating with GPs or other healthcare professional – safeguarding of vulnerable adults with dementia

Related pathway points of the Dementia Competency Framework:

• Access to safe coordinated care
• Family and carers needs
• Person-centred care
• Therapeutic care
• Enabling wellbeing, care, choices and preferences
• Timely accurate diagnosis and treatment planning