New board member: Bryony Waters-Harvey

I joined the INTERDEM Academy when I first started as a PhD student in 2019, and over the years, the support the academy provides has helped me develop both professionally and personally, making it an exciting opportunity to contribute to the Academy as a board member.

Bryony Waters-Harvey b.waters-harvey@sheffield.ac.uk

As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Sheffield, my research focuses on developing interventions and guidelines to improve the quality of care and life for people living with neurological conditions, including dementia and Motor Neuron Disease, which has a specialist focus on care homes. Previous work has included adapting a musical interaction staff-training tool for UK care homes and developing the FREEDEM safe-wandering resources.

I am an active member of several INTERDEM task forces, including Inequalities in Dementia Care, Social Health, and Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Dementia, where I have contributed to numerous papers and studies. Being part of these taskforces has given me a deep sense of belonging within INTERDEM, which I am so grateful for.  I am excited to contribute to the academy’s future development and ensure that future Early Career Researchers receive its support and guidance. I strive to increase the academy’s membership by encouraging ECRs from European countries currently under-represented in the academy and the wider INTERDEM network.

Following my recent collaborative paper with INTERDEM on ECR mental health, I am also eager to turn those findings into additional support for ECRS to ensure the sustainable well-being of junior members. More broadly, I am committed to INTERDEM’S mission of placing people with dementia at the heart of research.