Training helps legal professionals become dementia-capable

Dementia touches the lives of many Australians. Nearly half a million people live with dementia and over 1.5 million people are involved in the care of a person with dementia. Across our communities, there is an urgent need for dementia-capable professions, services and support systems.

Professor Nola Ries, a leading researcher in law and ageing at UTS, believes legal professionals have an important part to play. 

Becoming ‘dementia-capable’

“Being dementia-capable means professionals have the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with clients living with, or at risk of, dementia, and those who support them,” says Professor Ries.

“For lawyers, being dementia-capable focuses on attributes in four areas: knowledge; professionalism; legal rights and risks; and client capacity.”

Professor Ries has led the development of an innovative series of online short courses, with content of interest to any practitioner wanting to know more about dementia and working effectively with clients to promote their rights and prevent problems:

• Understanding Dementia: Facts and Foundations
• Planning Ahead: Focus on Advance Care Planning
• Elder Abuse: Strategies for Prevention

Cutting-edge content

Participants come away from the courses with resources they can use in their own professional practice and share with their clients.

As the first of their kind, the courses draw on the latest research and provide insights from medical and legal practitioners and dementia advocates. Interactive features enable participants to self-assess their learning, work through scenarios and share their experiences in discussion posts.

Professor Ries highlights that the courses include current, best-practice resources:

“As they work through the content, participants are prompted to create their own Dementia-Capable Toolkit. This means they come away from the courses with resources they can use in their own professional practice and share with their clients.”

Supporting positive changes

“We know there are areas for improvement, for example: in assessing and supporting client capacity; preparing more effective advance planning documents; and preventing exploitation of people with dementia by their legal representatives, like an enduring power of attorney.”Professor Ries is keen to understand how continuing professional development helps lawyers improve their practices and achieve better outcomes for their clients. She points to deficiencies in lawyers’ practices that have been revealed in disciplinary proceedings, government inquiries into elder abuse and academic research.

Professor Ries has embedded an evaluation project into the short courses to find out lawyers’ responses to the training and how they apply what they’ve learned into their practice. This project involves participants in NSW and Victoria, including generalist practitioners, will/estates specialists and community legal sector lawyers.

To date, the results from the evaluation show that all participants endorse the courses as useful and relevant for legal professionals. In the words of one participant:

Really impressed by the detail and breadth of content… I have completed previous courses online and this has been my best experience. Easy to follow, and can easily access materials. I think the ability to download your own toolkit is fantastic because you can tailor it to your own needs.

– Legal practitioner, elder and disability law

The results of the evaluation project will be available later this year.