Being Dementia Smart
The Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), in collaboration with the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, is proud to deliver the Being Dementia Smart module for The University of Stirling’s nursing and paramedic science students.
Winner - Great British Care Awards 2025 (Scotland) *
Winner - Great British Care Awards 2025 (Scotland) *
“I want people to see me, not my dementia”
~ Joan Lyon
We are delighted to be the recipient of this year’s Co-Production Award at the Great British Care Awards (Scotland). Joan voluneers with DSDC and the University of Stirling, sharing her incredible journey with Alzheimer’s to educate, including our nursing and paramedic science students, to ‘see the person, not the diagnosis’. Read the full article here.
Being Dementia Smart is the first module in the UK to include dementia design for undergraduate nurses and paramedics, making it a truly unique part of their course.
The module, which is essential for students of Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing and Paramedic Science, reflects the Scottish Government’s new Dementia Strategy. Launched in 2023 with input from DSDC, the Strategy focuses on empowerment and inclusivity for people living with a dementia.
Harnessing DSDC’s experience, students gain current best practice training in dementia care and design over a three year period, so they can gain confidence in delivering care to meet the values and principles of the Promoting Excellence Framework. The final semester of the module focuses purely on dementia friendly environments and design, which is unique in the UK among undergraduate nursing and paramedic courses.
The course is led by Professor Lesley Palmer, Professor of Ageing & Dementia Design, and DSDC’s Senior Dementia Consultant David Wilson-Wynne. Professor Palmer, is an architect specialising in dementia-friendly design, and David has extensive experience within the field of dementia care and was a clinician in the Scottish Ambulance Service. Lesley and David worked with Sarudzai Mutebuka, Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, to re-design the original Being Dementia Smart module.
Student feedback has already been incredibly positive. First year nursing student Paul Innes called the module “eye-opening” while student Benjamin Bowman said: “It just gives you that different viewpoint to be able to help the person better.”
It is our hope that nursing and paramedic students graduating from the University of Stirling will be better equipped to understand and support our ageing population. The course will showcase that it’s not just about how you provide care but also the space you provide it in.
Professor Lesley Palmer
“This is the first course to include dementia design. We’re taking lessons from other disciplines and blending them into their education so that they can see that care is multi-factorial – it’s not just about how you provide care, it’s also about the space that you’re providing it in.”
David Wilson-Wynne
“It makes sense for us to share first-hand with Stirling students the knowledge and expertise DSDC has, which is literally on their doorstep. The feedback we have had so far for the new dementia module has been extremely positive. We have even had students saying they now want to go into older people nursing, having not considered it before.”
What the students say…
“It helps hearing real stories from the job and the way other professionals deal with these situations.”
~ Year 3 student paramedic
“How I approach situations [will change after this training] when those whom are in my care are either palliative or end of life with a dementia diagnosis.”
~ Year 3 student paramedic
“I believe sessions like this should be given to all Healthcare Professionals and students but also companies that plan buildings for care servives, as [some I] really feel [are] lacking after this session.”
~ Year 3 student nurse
“Enjoyed todays class and found [it] very informative for my study, placement and day to day life.”
~ Year 3 student nurse
“Thought it was brilliant.”
~ Year 3 student nurse
“This module has been beneficial and relates to the patients we will see being a paramedic, but also just how to treat/talk to people living with dementia.”
~ Year 3 student paramedic