Living and Dying Well with Dementia

Thursday 5th March 2026

9:30 am to 4:00 pm

Hybrid Session: Attend in person at The Hospice of St Francis, HP4 3GW or Online via Zoom

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Who should attend:

This one-day course is designed for health and social care professionals supporting individuals with dementia whether in their own home, a care home, or in hospital

Course Aims:

To enhance the knowledge, skills, and confidence of health and social care professional in supporting individuals living with dementia through their illness with person centred care

Objectives:

Describe the progression of dementia and its impact on individuals and their families.
Identify effective tools to support individuals who are deteriorating and dying with dementia
To share approaches in symptom management such as pain and distress, communication, and approaches to food and drink
Recognise signs of approaching end of life and apply a palliative approach to dementia care
Discuss the benefits of early future planning and the importance of advance care planning
To encourage reflection and integration of best practices in dementia care including hearing the lived experience

Presented by

Tracy Logan

Admiral Nurse

Carers in Herts

Tracy qualified as a learning disability nurse in 1997, gaining experience working in different aspects of mental health issues, challenging behavior, epilepsy, adaptive communication strategies, support with eating and drinking, prompting the need for good physical health care and reasonable adjustments.

This experience is the foundation of Tracy’s approach to those she supports and works with.

During Tracy’s career she has worked in memory clinics with HPFT psychiatrists and this began her in interest in dementia care.
In 2018 Tracy gained her first admiral nurse position in a nursing home and in 2019 she went to work as an admiral nurse with carers in Herts where she remains to this day.

Dee Cooke

Lecturer Practitioner/ Nurse

The Hospice of St Francis

Dee started her nursing career in a general hospital on both medicine and gynae wards. Passionate about developing people and empowering them with skills and knowledge to provide excellent care to their patients her lecturer practitioner role is a perfect fit.

Dee has worked in a range of settings including a community team, care home improvement team and clinical skills facilitator team.

Dee joined the team in April 2024 and works clinically alongside delivering end of life care education.

Dee is passionate about supporting staff to get it right even in stressful situations.

Dr Elise Aitchison

Speciality Doctor, GP in Urgent Care, background in psychology

The Hospice of St Francis

Amy Smissen

Lecturer Practitioner/ Community Occupational Therapist

Amy is a qualified Occupational Therapist with 25 years experience working in both clinical and leadership roles. With a passion for the palliative rehab approach to empower patients to self-manage Amy enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills within the team and wider audiences.

Throughout her career she has worked in a range of settings including a community learning disability team, an inpatient neurological rehab unit and a local charity providing support to people living with long-term neurological conditions.

Amy joined the Hospice of St Francis in 2023 and works 3 days a week in the Community Team, bringing her unique OT perspective to enable community patients to optimise their function and ultimately, their overall quality of life. Amy has always enjoyed facilitating therapeutic groupwork sessions, running workshops and training sessions both for patients and carers and with fellow clinicians. These skills lend themselves well to her Lecturer Practitioner role, which she took on in early 2024.