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University of Tasmania

Preventing Dementia

University of Tasmania via Independent

Overview

Preventing Dementia is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), offering university-quality education about the latest research in dementia risk and protective factors. The free 4-week course provides an opportunity to engage with the perspectives of a global community, without requiring exams or assignments.

With the ageing of the world’s population, dementia is looming as the public health issue of the 21st Century. Is it possible to modify your risk of dementia? A substantial proportion of risk is associated with advanced ageing as well as genetic risk factors, but the latest research has indicated there are modifiable risk factors which may decrease your susceptibility to dementia. The Preventing Dementia MOOC investigates the best available evidence about dementia prevention, drawing on a range of global experts.

You will have the opportunity to engage in online discussions, and can also participate in new research in this field, to help us determine the most effective ways to help people reduce their dementia risk. At the end of the Preventing Dementia MOOC, there is also the opportunity to undertake an assessment of your individual risk.

Preventing Dementia is designed to be accessible and appealing to people from diverse backgrounds including

  • Health and allied health professionals
  • Community and residential aged care staff
  • Health policymakers
  • Social scientists
  • Individuals with a general interest in brain health and/or dementia

The course runs for 6 weeks in total. The first week of the course is an orientation period. Content will be delivered during weeks 2 to 6. To obtain the most from this course, participants should expect to spend approximately 2 hours per week engaging with the course content and activities. After successfully completing the final quiz, participants will be eligible to download a free certificate of completion.

Syllabus

Course Outline

  Module 1 – Can dementia be prevented?
  • Key concepts in dementia prevention
  • Definition of dementia and introduction to the diseases that cause dementia
  • Important factors influencing the numbers of people with dementia across the globe
  • The impact of dementia on the health care system
  Module 2 – Risk factors for dementia
  • How we study dementia risk in populations
  • Non-modifiable vs modifiable risk factors
  • The major modifiable risk factors
  • How dementia risk is measured at individual and population levels
  Module 3 – Dementia risk – it’s not all in your head
  • Evidence supporting links between key vascular and medical risk factors with dementia
  Module 4 – A healthy and active life
  • Evidence supporting links between key lifestyle factors and risk of dementia
  • mpact of depression on dementia risk
  • Impact of education on dementia risk
  • Concept of ‘cognitive reserve’
  Module 5 – Interventions for prevention
  • Key strategies for prevention at the individual and population level
  • Encouraging healthy behaviours
  • What you can do to reduce your risk of dementia
  • Current research initiatives

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 7,055 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Preventing Dementia

  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course.

    I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the course. I enjoyed all the modules and meeting international specialists and researchers. Personally I found the explanation of hereditary factors and risk of developing dementia enlightening and hug…
  • Unbelievably good... & free! This course puts dementia in its place: it is a fatal disease affecting the body & brain together; it cannot be prevented or cured; the risk of succumbing to it CAN be significantly reduced by simple measures that also r…
  • Use it or lose it. I enrolled the course for my 2nd time as the revision. I thought would be able to remember 80% of details or knowledge like what I did from the previous year. No I am wrong, maximum 10% what I did remember.

    This is proved to myself that never think twice to study something you think you already know.

    Thank you very much for generouse academic course to the public. I do appreciate it, Preventing Dementia is helpful for my health benefits and my learning output throughout the course.
  • I just completed this class and loved it. There is a lot to learn and apply in our life as we age. The most important thing we need to learn is there is no time too early or late to work towards improving our cognitive health through lifestyle chan…
  • This was my first MOOC and I was apprehensive about it, especially since I enrolled 2 weeks into it. It was easy to follow and catch up on.
    I liked that there are text versions for all the videos, made it easier to go back and take notes.
    The information was plainly spoken, not overly technical or needing to already be trained in the medical field to understand.
    You gain application knowledge to understanding dementia and implement changes in your own life to help reduce risk.
    The extra reading link options included were nice for when you have time and interest to delve a little deeper into some areas.
  • Lorna Kay Durrant

    Lorna Kay Durrant completed this course.

    Having previously completed the Understanding Dementia Course in 2017, I have just completed the 2018 Preventing Dementia MOOC Course. I can now see why this Course is rated to be in the top 50 Worldwide Online Courses, and rated also as the top…
  • Interesting information, well presented and easy to access. It was also easy to dip in and out, spending as much or as little time as I had available on any one day, and then to pick up where I left off. The content is very easy to understand, with…
  • Thanks University Tasmania Wicking Dementia Centre for developing and running this MOOC Preventing Dementia. It's fantastic to be able to partake of such high calibre program, free of charge.

    I've registered for the next available course, Understanding Dementia 2021, and look forward to it very much.

    I will certainly strongly recommend family and friends to register into both courses. Now that I've done one course, I may be more effective in my 'sales' effort!

    Thanks to the faculty and team for a world class MOOC program!!

  • Anonymous
    As I am 67yrs and my mother at 92 is in the initial stages of dementia, so I found the course most relevant and very informative. The areas covered were presented in a sequential format by experts in the field, starting with Module 1 - Identifying D…
  • It is a very fun and information packed course. Before studying this course, I have minimum knowledge on dementia and I thought it is inevitable as part of ageing, only lucky few may dodge the bullet. However, after this course I have learnt a lot about what causing dementia, how to avoid it and what can we do about it. It's also focus on making the best out of our lives. Such as having healthy and active mindset, better diet and lifestyle choices. Those can be applied to what we can do with our lifestyle that not just for the sake of dementia prevention but to experience more in our lives and sustaining a better quality of life until we die. I can't wait to share what I learnt to others.
  • I highly recommend this course to both health professionals and those with an interest in learning more about the prevention of dementia.

    The course is presented in an informative, engaging manner, and contains interviews and findings from current global research.
  • Anonymous
    I attended this course with little or no knowledge of Prevention of dementia. Through all the modules, I was able to better understand that what is needed to prevent dementia . I have also been able to understand the risk factors associated with dementia and the help that is available to assist with from the onset. I also was able to learn from the concluding surveys my risk factor to getting dementia and the relevant steps I need to take to minimise the risk surveys. As this is a free online study, I will encourage those around me to use this facility which would enable them to understand dementia and be in a better position dealing with when encountered with and to use the support available
  • I really enjoyed this course, and would recommend it to anyone who was looking for ways to improve their risk factors or their families risk factors of getting dementia. Thank you for making this information so easily accessible.
  • This offering is a well-curated course on preventive measures for dementia, an increasingly-important global health concern. Made no less by one of the most authoritative centers for dementia research and education in the world, in collaboration wit…
  • Good course it was very informative. The content was really good especially the research evidences and relating to real life situations.
  • Anna Grazia Pietrolungo

    Anna Grazia Pietrolungo completed this course.

    I have recently completed the "Preventing Dementia" course "MOOC" with the university of Tasmania. It has been an enjoyable, informal way of learning about the subject within my own time. Having the course presented on line with the many videos and…
  • My only criticism relates to another course I did not complete - Understanding Dementia. The reason is that the course closed before I completed it. I hope I get some recognition for the parts done when I attempt it again next February.
  • I previously completed the Understanding Dementia MOOC, and found this course to be an excellent sequel. The format was easy to engage with, and being a text-based learner, I really appreciated being able to read the text as well as or instead of watching or listening to the videos. The infographics at the end of some of the modules were great to summarise the key ideas in a simple easily understood format, and the summary list for each module made it easy to reinforce the information and get it out of short-term memory and into something more durable.
  • Anonymous
    Thanks for giving me an opportunity to learn more it gives understanding and reinforces where the disease is at this point of time, and myths of dementia gives you an open mind! Gave five stars for all the people behind this making this possible.
  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course.

    At the very outset I wish to thank the University of Tasmania and each and every one of you,who made the course possible.I am glad to have been able to take the course and complete it. I learnt a lot during the course of this study.It also helped m…

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