From PhDs to Practice

This week we hear from Dr Chris Russell with news about a novel course supporting opportunities for leisure and physical activity for people living with dementia. Over to Chris…

Eighteen months ago I completed my PhD which investigated the experiences of people living with dementia as they took part in physical activity, close to home, in their local leisure centre.

It was a labour of love. The cliché, that you should always study a subject which you feel passionate about when completing a PhD, was true for me. I love spending time with people living with dementia and their family members, I also have a lifelong passion for sport and physical activity.

Some of the findings and detail about how I went about the research have been published in a journal article, and there is another one in its final stages. More will be included in a chapter of a book about dementia and leisure which will be published next year.

Championing physical activity

The Association for Dementia Studies has successfully applied for funding from the Leisure Studies Association and Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire to develop and pilot an online course on ‘Championing the role of physical activity as a leisure choice for people affected by dementia’. Although the course won’t be delivered until next year, we wanted to tell people about it now as we’re already quite excited!