UCL launches free online dementia course

UCL has today announced a free four-week online course "The Many Faces of Dementia" aiming to provide valuable insights into dementia through the stories, symptoms and science behind four less common diagnoses. The interactive MOOC (massive open online course) features's with world-leading experts, people with dementia and their families as well as articles and discussion. It is aimed at anyone who wants to learn more about dementia and may be of particular interest to those who interact with people living with dementia regularly such as family members, carers and health professionals. It will begin on 14 March 2016 and run for four weeks, with two to three hours of online learning each week. Dementia describes a range of symptoms that can include memory loss, difficulties with thinking, problem-solving and language, and there are a number of different underlying causes. Alzheimer's disease is the most common, but there are many rarer causes which are not always well recognised. Participants in the new course will learn about four less common causes of dementia: familial Alzheimer's disease, behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and posterior cortical atrophy.