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MOOC with meaning
University of Tasmania course aims to
boost dementia knowledge globally.
By Kate Prendergast
A
massive open online course
(MOOC) is aiming to improve the
understanding of dementia around
the world.
In a recent paper published in Science
of Learning, a partner journal of Nature,
a research team from the University of
Tasmania assessed the effectiveness of the
nine-week Understanding Dementia MOOC
across enrolled participants. The 42 per
cent who completed the course showed
“substantial improvements” in knowledge.
Improvement was found across
participant groups too, regardless of
differences in expertise through formal
education, occupational experience, or
experience relating to caring for a significant
other. Significantly, completing the course
minimised the degree of knowledge
differences associated with these different
levels of exposure.
While the MOOC was launched in
2013, the study took place over two
years (2016–17). In the first year, 20,061
participants from 117 countries enrolled,
and in the second the figure was 29,039
participants from 132 countries. Australians
represented the majority of all enrolments
(66.5 per cent), followed by the UK (9.8 per
cent) and New Zealand (7 per cent).
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With a growing number of informal carers
in the international community, who are
typically women with low levels of previous
education, the course is designed to
maximise accessibility for adult learners.
Enrolment is free, with a varied pedagogy,
encompassing a conversational framework,
video discussions, summaries, games,
quizzes and more.
Modules focus on basic neurobiology,
dementia pathophysiology, medical
management and person-centred care.
Researchers scored participants’
knowledge levels through the Dementia
Knowledge Assessment Scale, a validated
measurement tool for dementia researchers.
They found that while those who had
experience in care tended to score highly,
this experiential learning “rarely addresses all
of the relevant domains of knowledge”.
The MOOC was therefore able to
supplement this base knowledge, providing
a more comprehensive awareness around
the set of conditions that characterise
dementia, from onset through progression.
When they first emerged in 2008,
MOOCs were hailed as a disruptive and
democratising system of learning in the
new ‘global classroom’.
Since then, in part due to a catastrophic
drop-out rate, the potential of MOOCs has
been cast into doubt.
The Tasmanian research lends legitimacy
to the form in its given context, with the
authors describing the course as “an
effective knowledge translation strategy to
improve dementia knowledge for a diverse,
international learner group”.
It has been so successful, in fact, that the
research team developed a second MOOC
called Preventing Dementia. Launched in
2016, the course explores the modifiable risk
factors for dementia.
There is an urgent need for knowledge
enhancement in this area too – which is
only going to ratchet up in the near future.
“There are nearly 50 million people
with dementia worldwide, and this
number is predicted to triple by 2050,” the
paper’s co-author, Claire Eccleston, told
Campus Review.
“Yet two out of three people globally
believe there is little to no understanding
of dementia in their country.
“Stigma about dementia is common.
Formal care workers and those who care
for people with dementia at home often
lack the knowledge required to provide
quality care.
"Understanding dementia reduces
stigma, and helps communities to become
more inclusive of people living with
cognitive impairment.
“It also supports the provision of informed,
appropriate and compassionate care by
health professionals and others caring for
people with dementia.”
In Australia, with a population that is
both rapidly expanding and ageing fast, the
number of people being diagnosed with
dementia is expected to increase to 318
people per day by 2025, and more than 650
people per day by 2056.
“The aged care workforce is inadequately
resourced and prepared to meet the
growing need for dementia care, and
dependency on informal community care is
increasing,” the researchers say.
They also point out that literacy of
dementia is important in shaping national
policies around the disease.
In Australia, the ongoing Royal
Commission into Aged Care Quality and
Safety has found a critical lack of awareness
in areas of the Australian healthcare industry
relating to dementia, including a dangerous
over-reliance on physical and chemical
mechanisms of restraint. This was further
underlined in the hearings in Sydney, which
focused on residential care and those living
with dementia.
Enrolment for the Preventing Dementia
MOOC opened on 14 May, while enrolment
for the Understanding Dementia MOOC will
open on 9 July. Both run twice annually. ■