Systematic Policy and Evidence Review to Consider How Dementia Education and Training Are Best Delivered in the Social Care Workforce and How Policy Does or Can Enable Its Implementation in England

Background Very many social care clients have dementia, but few social care workers receive dementia-specific training. Objective To systematically review policy and research on the effectiveness of social care workforce dementia training. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL and Cochrane library, from November 2015 to February 2024, including studies describing dementia training and support interventions for social care workers. We narratively synthesized the evidence and assessed risk of bias with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We reviewed English policies from January 2015 to April 2024 to identify social and policy contexts relevant to dementia training. We consulted home care and care home stakeholders regarding how findings could inform future policy. Results We included 56 studies (50 in care homes and 6 in home care). There was good quality evidence that two care home–based dementia training interventions that engaged staff ‘champions’ to integrate practice-based learning reduced agitation, neuropsychiatric symptoms and antipsychotic prescribing and improved life quality of residents with dementia. One study found this approach was cost-effective. In home care, evidence was limited; group training was valued and improved staff sense of dementia care competence in one study. We identified 27 policies and related documents and consulted 17 stakeholders. Stakeholders supported mandatory dementia training but considered implementation very challenging in current economic contexts. Conclusions We found strong evidence for dementia training in care homes but a lack of research in home care. Policy options identified to implement evidence require investment, which could deliver substantial savings across health and social care.