…and the livin’ is easy. Well it might be according to Billie Holiday (and many other cover versions), but it doesn’t feel like it at the Association for Dementia Studies. Ok, so it might not technically be summer yet, and the weather hasn’t really helped, but many people think that the summer months at a university are nice and quiet as we’re not teaching students. While it’s true that the January modules on our Postgraduate Certificate in Person-Centred Dementia Studies have finished, things are definitely not slowing down for us.
We’re already thinking about our September modules and getting those set up. The online teaching platform has been upgraded so the modules will look a bit nicer, but it means that we’ve got to get to grips with a slightly different system and adapt our modules accordingly. We’re using it as a good opportunity to review and revamp our modules but it’s not going to be a five-minute job (unfortunately!). If you’re interested in joining us in September to study on the PGCert please feel free to get in touch. We’ve also got our next online open evening on 1st July if you want to book a time to talk to the Course Lead and ask any questions about the modules.
Coming to an end
Our Crossing the Line project looking at support for family carers providing personal care is also coming to an end, so we’re busily finalising the resources from that research with the aim of launching them at the end of summer. Watch this space!
We’ll be carrying out our final visit to an Abbeyfield care-enabled housing scheme in East Sussex as part of the research we’ve been doing for the Abbeyfield Research Foundation, and it will be sad not seeing the tenants again once we’ve finished.
Just getting going
We’ve got a new research project getting up and running, Food Glorious Food. It’s looking at the role of food and food-based activities in different community groups supporting people with dementia. We’ll be having a blog about the project soon, so will provide more detail in due course.
Another new piece of work that has recently started is developing an online course to help people understand and implement Namaste Care for people living with advanced dementia, which we’re hoping to pilot later in the year. Again, this will be the topic of a future blog, so keep an eye out for that in the next few weeks.
Ongoing work
It’s also a busy writing time for us as we’ve got articles underway for several projects including Worcester Life Stories, Crossing the Line, Meeting Centres, and Get Real. Bids for several future research projects are also in progress, with deadlines rapidly approaching! There are also a few conference presentations in the diary for the next few months, so we’ll be looking to share our work with others.
Our other ongoing projects and external teaching commitments will also be continuing as normal, such as the next cohort of our Meeting Centre training course which starts in July.
So as much as we’d love to have a relaxing summer enjoying the sunshine (when it’s here), it looks like we might not have that much spare time…
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Association for Dementia Studies Blog 