INTRODUCTION

The Graduate Diploma in Dementia Studies is a course that is ideally suited to health care professionals involved in providing care or support for people with dementia and their carers. The course is relevant to acute care, long term residential aged care, and community care settings and to professionals such as Registered Nurses, Occupational Therapists, and Speech Pathologists.

Prospective students need to be health care professionals, such as Registered Nurses or therapists, who have completed a relevant undergraduate degree and have a clinical or educational background in the area of dementia care. Registered Nurses who gained their qualification under the hospital-based system and have relevant experience are also eligible to enrol, at the discretion of the course coordinator.

There are 120 credit points (six units) in this course, the first three comprising the Graduate Certificate in Dementia Studies. Students who are progressing at the rate of one unit per semester are advised to take them in the order in which they are displayed. However, a student may choose to enrol in two or three units during the same semester, subject to the agreement of the course coordinator, and provided that the units in the Graduate Certificate are completed before commencing the Graduate Diploma units. Students may exit with a Graduate Certificate in Dementia Studies after successful completion of ACD5101, ACD5102, and NST5148.