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Expertise in qualitative methods inc. ethnography and interviewing. Researching counselling/psychotherapy for dementia, reminiscence, self-harm and suicidality

I am interested in communication to support people living with dementia, using various qualitative approaches including conversation analysis.
I am also interested in media portrayal of dementia and the perceived and actual impacts of this.

My research has focused on investigating the needs and experiences of dementia within black and minority ethnic communities. My research interests include promoting awareness of dementia and early help-seeking behaviours within these communities and improving care through culturally appropriate dementia care practices.

My research project is about environmental risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. I will be investigating potential risk factors such as air pollution, noise pollution, exposure to urban green spaces and walkability.
These environmental factors will be investigated next to socio-economic status and individual risk factors.
For data I will make use of the Geoscience and Health Cohort Consortium (GECCO) as well as diverse cohort studies within the Netherlands.

My research focuses on modifiable dementia risk factors in experimental and observational studies, and the local implementation and coordination of the FINGER-NL trial

Advance care planning in dementia: using conversation analysis to improve GP consultations and develop a support programme for general practitioners

- Angela Project (largest young onset dementia study ever conducted in the UK)
- Improving health & social care services for families affected by young onset dementia

Social and economic evaluation of a regional approach to community-based support for people affected by dementia

I am a paramedic and educator, focusing on the care provided by paramedics in emergency and urgent circumstances to people living with dementia. People living with dementia form a significant part of ambulance work, yet there is very little evidence as to how paramedics think about and care for people living with dementia. Very little is known about the views of people living with dementia and carers who receive this care.
Current measures in this area are limited, and tend to focus on how many people living with dementia attend the emergency department, or are discharged to the community. Therefore, It is unclear what the quality of care is provided by paramedics to PLWD and whether this care is person-centred.
It is unclear how the use of person centred care principles by paramedics will be evaluated. It is also important to establish and appraise evidence of caring experiences delivered by of paramedics to people living with dementia.

My current research project, ENACT, is investigating the implementation of The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) in residential care homes. Our aim is to develop theory- and research-informed training and practice recommendations to support care home staff to effectively implement the MCA.

TAP project – further develop an electronic tool to aid in the communication between clinicians and patients. Providing a visual representation during feedback of NPA results

I undertook a PhD on the topic of awareness of age-related change and its associations with cognitive functioning, and mental and physical health. Whereas my PhD was in the area of prevention of cognitive decline, as a postdoc I have been investigating change over time in a range of psychological, social, and medical factors in people living with dementia and their carers. Lately, I am particularly interested in the study of self-perceptions of ageing of people living with dementia and their carers, and whether these are related. I am also planning a project where I would use secondary data to investigate whether self-perceptions of ageing predict five-year trajectories of cognitive change and transition into mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
I have been conducting research on dementia and caregiving for more than three years. In these topics I have 11 published research articles, three paper under review and three additional papers in preparation. I have also published seven additional papers on cognition in older age. Moreover, I am writing a chapter on physical health in people living with dementia for the book resulting from the British IDEAL study. In addition, I am part of a group of early-career researchers (called COMPHAD) based in Cambridge, Exeter, Plymouth, Newcastle, and Nottingham, interested in estimating dementia prevalence in underserved communities (such as ethnic minorities).