We regularly have to provide updates to the wider university to say what’s going on with our research within the Association for Dementia Studies, and it’s actually quite a nice exercise to do as it helps us realise just how much we’re doing on a daily basis. It’s a chance to pause and reflect, and as that feels quite appropriate at the moment we thought we’d share our latest research update with you. So, just what have we been up to between May and August?
New publications
We always seem to have multiple articles in progress, but recently we’ve had quite a few published as well:
- Atkinson, T., Bray, J. & Williamson, T. (2022) You’re in a new game and you don’t know the rules: Preparing carers to care. Dementia. doi:10.1177/14713012221112242
- Bray, J., Atkinson, T. & Williamson, T. (2022) You matter! Training to support family carers of people living with dementia. Journal of Dementia Care, 30(3) 20-24
- Gerritsen, D., van de Roest, H., Evans, S.B., Leontjevas, R., Prins, M., Brooker, D. & Droes, R-M. (2022). The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the well-being of people living with dementia. In Vandenbulcke, M., Droes, R-M. & Schokkaert, E. (2022). Dementia and Society: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Cambridge University Press
- Latham, I., Frost, F., Dobson, A., Mumford, S. & Williamson, T. (2022) “I didn’t even know you had this job!” The outcomes and facilitators of the Care Home Action Researcher-in-residence Model (CHARM). Journal of Dementia Care, 30(3) 14-19
- Morton, T., Evans, S.B., Brooker, D., Williamson, T., Wong, G., Tinelli, M., Frost, F., Bray, J. & Hullah, N. (2022). Sustainability of locally driven centres for those affected by dementia: a protocol for the get real with meeting centres realist evaluation. BMJ Open,12(5) e062697. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062697
We’ve also been incorporating some of our previous research and articles into our teaching, in particular to support learning on our Postgraduate Certificate in Person-Centred Dementia Studies.
Research funding
As well as getting a two-month extension to our ‘Get Real with Meeting Centres’ project, we’ve submitted two other bids for new research so hopefully we will have some positive news in the future. Fingers crossed!
(Don’t forget, for the Get Real project we are asking people who are family members, friends and/or carers of someone affected by dementia who have experience of Meeting Centres (past or present) to complete a survey by following this link.)
Conference presentations
Conferences are starting to happen ‘in-person’ again, so we’ve done a bit of a mix of online presentations and actually being in front of a real audience which has been quite exciting:
- Atkinson, T. & Russell, C. (June) What can FULLY online learning teach us? Using online learning to foster a sense of belonging in and beyond the curriculum. University of Worcester Learning and Teaching Conference, Worcester
- Bray, J. (May) The challenges of reaching the right people – experiences from two research projects. Worcester Life Stories and Get Real with Meeting Centres. University of Worcester Research Seminar Series, online
- Bray, J. (July) Championing Physical Activity for people affected by dementia – an online course. Live Longer Better Community of Practice and Learning, online
- Evans, S.B. (June) Poster – Meeting Centres: regional approaches to community-based support for people affected by dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease International, London
- Morton, T. (June) Poster – SCI-Dem: A Realist Review of Sustainable Community Interventions for People Affected by Dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease International, London
- Russell, C. & Oatley, R. (July) In pursuit of leisure in the context of life with dementia: From research to education to practice. Leisure Studies Association Annual Conference, Falmouth
- Russell, C. & Stephens, N. (June) Developing and piloting an online course to enhance the knowledge and confidence of practitioners to deliver leisure and physical activities for people affected by dementia. University of Worcester Learning and Teaching Conference, online
Research in the news
There have been several articles in local papers about the work being done around Meeting Centres:
- Bromsgrove Advertiser https://www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk/news/20109326.funding-approved-new-dementia-centres-bromsgrove-redditch/
- Redditch Standard https://redditchstandard.co.uk/news/new-meeting-centre-set-to-open-for-redditch-dementia-sufferers/
- Redditch Standard https://redditchstandard.co.uk/news/redditch-to-get-meeting-centre-for-people-living-with-dementia/
- The Courier Evening Telegraph https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/angus-mearns/3511735/forfar-dementia-centre-opens/
- Bromsgrove & Redditch Standard https://twitter.com/alz_daughter/status/1547950399943913472
- Redditch Standard https://redditchstandard.co.uk/news/new-dementia-meeting-centres-set-to-open-in-redditch-and-bromsgrove/
- Bradley Stoke Journal http://www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk/2022/08/16/new-dementia-meeting-centre-opening-bradley-stoke/
There was also a blog from the Healthy Ageing Research Group about an event that we presented at back in March.
Public engagement with research
There have also been occasions for members of the public to engage with what we’re doing. For example, Meeting Centres were promoted at a ‘Living well for a healthier memory & longer life’ awareness event in Evesham in May. Similarly, our DemECH project was promoted at an Images of Research exhibition at The Hive libraray in June via the entry ‘Your voice matters: Involving people affected by dementia in research’.
Additionally, two webinars took place as part of Meeting Centres UK, looking at:
Finally, the CHARM manual has been downloaded for free around 140 times in May-August from our blog site.
PhD student news
One of our PhD students, Nathan Stephens, has been particularly busy during this period:
- Co-presenting at the University of Worcester Learning and Teaching Conference in June – Developing and piloting an online course to enhance the knowledge and confidence of practitioners to deliver leisure and physical activities for people affected by dementia
- Poster presentation at the University of Worcester Postgraduate Research Conference in June – The Social Value of Scaling-up a Community-based Support Programme for People Affected by Dementia: A Social Return on Investment evaluation
- Entry at the Images of Research exhibition in June – Filling the gap in post diagnostic support for people affected by dementia
- Stephens, N. (2022). Alzheimer’s Society Annual Conference, Dementia Researcher (web blog) https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-alzheimers-society-annual-conference/
- Stephens, N. (2022). An incoherent blurb from an unpaid family care worker, Dementia Researcher (web blog) https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-an-incoherent-blurb-from-an-unpaid-family-care-worker/
- Stephens, N. (2022). Positionality and reflexivity, and why it’s not just for qualitative research, Dementia Researcher (web blog) https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-positionality-and-reflexivity-and-why-its-not-just-for-qualitative-research/
Upcoming research events
Finally, the 2022 series of Meeting Centre webinars resumes after a summer break, and the next will take place at 12 noon on Friday 30th September, ‘We’re All in this Together’. You can find out more and how to join the webinar on our website.
So if you thought the summer months at a university were quiet because there are no students, I think we’d have to disagree!
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