Learning Disability and Dementia: Best Practice Support – Co-Produced Interactive Online Training

Book now for workshops from September 2026

Did you know people with a learning disability...

• are more at risk of developing dementia
• often present with symptoms aged under 65 years old (known as as 'young onset')
• can progress more rapidly through symptoms than within the general population

For these reasons, all professionals who support people with a learning disability and dementia need education that truly understands their role and the needs of the people they support.

This two-part Learning Disability and Dementia: Best Practice Support course, delivered in collaboration between ARC England and MacIntyre is co-designed and co-delivered with Jess Hiles, a Self Advocate. Jess, along with Nicola Payne and Beth Britton MBE, are the double-award winning team behind the ARC England and MacIntyre Loss and Bereavement Training. 

Watch Jess, Beth and Nicola's short video about their Dementia and Learning Disability training workshop. 

This new course brings their many years of expertise from both professional and personal experiences of learning disability and dementia to the wider health and social care sectors in a comprehensive training package that takes learners through pre-diagnosis to what best practice in post-diagnostic support looks like, including as dementia advances.

The course also meets the Alzheimer’s Society’s call for professionals supporting a person with dementia to have had eight hours of dementia-specific training, with content that meets the Department for Health and Social Care Dementia Training Standards Framework requirements and includes best-practice training design and delivery.

Upcoming dates

• 15 and 29 September 2026
• 20 October 2026 and 3 November 2026
• 27 January and 10 February 2027
• 14 April and 28 April 2027

What will I/my team learn?

The course, which runs over two half-day (four hour) sessions delivered two weeks apart, has the following expected learning outcomes:

1. To know about dementia types, symptoms and best practice for supporting a person developing dementia
2. To understand your role in supporting the person during diagnosis and beyond
3. To be able to maintain independence, choice and control for the person
4. To understand the importance of an enabling environment and how you can work towards this
5. To know how to support the person effectively with eating and drinking
6. To understand non-drug interventions that can support the person
7. To know how to maximise the person’s wellbeing and support them to be socially active and have meaningful occupation
8. To understand communication when a person has dementia
9. To know how to support a person when behaviour changes due to their dementia
10. To understand how other common coexisting conditions can affect the person’s experience of their dementia
11. To know how to begin advance care planning with the person and their circle of support
12. To think about what the future might look like and how to prepare for advancing dementia
13. To understand how to work positively with the person, their family and circle of support
14. To have confidence and resilience as leaders, staff members and teams

What can you expect from this course?

• The course is delivered via Zoom and is interactive - filled with lightbulb moments and active calls to contribute integrated into the learning.
• The course features many different voices in the dementia sector, from people with lived experience to professionals working in a range of settings.
• The course includes a person-centred homework activity to consolidate and help you apply your learning (completed in the two-week gap between the two sessions), and multimedia pre-training activities that help to set the scene for learners before each session.
• Every learner who completes the course will leave with numerous practical ideas to help them to fulfil best practice support, and this is backed up with a suite of post-training resources that are shared after each learner’s evaluation is completed.
• On completion of both sessions, a certificate will be awarded to all participants.

Who is this course for?

Anyone who is working with people who are ageing with a learning disability and/or are developing or are diagnosed with a type of dementia and anyone who has an interest in learning disability and/or dementia, for example:

• Social care professionals in all roles – from frontline staff to managers – and in all types of services, including Supported Living, Residential, Shared Lives, Day Provision and Outreach.
• Healthcare professionals who work with people who are ageing with a learning disability and/or are developing or are diagnosed with a type of dementia.
• Professionals from third sector support organisations, for example charities and CICs, who provide support services to people who are ageing with a learning disability and/or are developing or are diagnosed with a type of dementia.
• Family members supporting a loved one who is ageing with a learning disability and/or are developing or are diagnosed with a type of dementia.

Why should I book my staff onto this course?

The duration of the course means it meets the Alzheimer’s Society’s call for professionals supporting a person with dementia to have had eight hours of dementia-specific training, with content that meets the Department for Health and Social Care Dementia Training Standards Framework requirements and includes best-practice training design and delivery.

Alzheimer’s Society

“A requirement for staff to undertake best practice dementia training of at least eight hours, mapped to at least Tier 2 of the Dementia Training Standards Framework and with delivery meeting five key components of best practice training (evidence-informed training design; effective delivery method; inclusive digital learning; support and accessibility; and strong leadership to foster long-term impact of training).”

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-04/The-Training-Gap-England-Long-read.pdf (p. 10)

Cost

• £130 (ARC members)
• £150 (non-ARC members)

How to book your place