New INTERDEM Academy Fellowship – Mollie Price

I’m Mollie, a PhD researcher at Leeds Beckett University, UK. I am delighted to announce that I have been awarded an INTERDEM Academy fellowship for Spring 2018. I will be spending three months in Oslo, Norway with Dr Anne Marie Mork Rokstad and her colleagues at the Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health.

The aim of my PhD project is to understand and address the psychosocial challenges and support needs of informal carers of people with comorbid dementia and cancer. I am currently conducting an interview study with this unique carer group, focused on their experiences and unmet support needs, which will lead to the development of a psychosocial intervention.

At the time of my visit to Norway, I will have the findings from the interview study and will be commencing the process of developing the intervention. The fellowship will give me the opportunity to gain knowledge and insight to inform and shape the development of the intervention from the staff at the visiting institution. Dr Anne Marie Mork Rokstad and her colleagues have impressive expertise in dementia care and the development and evaluation of successful psychosocial interventions, including those for family carers. Visiting Norway will also enable me to engage in further data collection to inform the relevance of the intervention in a wider European context. I look forward to building networks and collaborations with the researchers at the Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health that can continue to grow afterwards.

I would like to thank the INTERDEM Academy for giving me this exciting opportunity; Dr Anne Marie Mork Rokstad and her colleagues for agreeing to host me at the Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health; and my supervisors Dr Laura Ashley, Professor Claire Surr and Professor Brendan Gough for their support.