Table 1 Modules and topics covered

• Module 1 describes the natural progression of dementia and how to recognise when deterioration is due to dementia versus delirium.

• Module 2 focuses on caring for a person with advanced dementia when they are approaching the end of their life.

• Module 3 discusses the reasons why people with advanced dementia are typically best cared for in the care home and describes the challenges people with advanced dementia face in the busy hospital environment.

• Module 4 introduces Goals of Care (GOC) plans, and highlights that finding out what’s important to the person is vital to providing best care.

• Module 5 describes what is needed for high quality and best practice GOC plan.

• Module 6 discusses pain and the challenges in managing pain in people with advanced dementia.

• Module 7 focuses on recognising the dying phase, including reduced eating and drinking, and helping families understand that reduced eating and drinking at the end of life is normal.

• Module 8 discusses focusing on what is most important to the person when they are dying and ways to keep a person as comfortable as possible. It also describes terminal restlessness a common end of life symptom, and how care staff can recognise and manage it.

• Module 9 focuses on changes in breathing at end of life, what to expect as death approaches and ways to support the family. It also discusses the concerns care staff may have as a resident approaches death and includes reflection of learners’ real experiences.

• Module 10 raises the importance of communicating openly, honestly and frequently with residents and their family members.

• Module 11 shifts the focus of caring from residents to care providers. It encourages carers to consider their own feelings about death and dying and how they manage these feelings when a resident is at the end of their life and then dies.