BU Research Blog

Bouncing, dancing, cake eating and massage were all part of the fun of the ESRC Festival of Social Science ( http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/29036/dementia-isnt-the-end-of-fun!.aspx) ,sponsored public engagement event BUDI put on this Saturday, 9 November,  at the Littledown Centre. This was all part of a family fun day to show case a selection of our dementia projects that we have been working on over the last year. Thanks to our team members who ‘clicked in’ our visitors we clicked around 250 people into the event, but missed many more at busy times when clickers had to direct people around the stands/answer questions; we reckon up to 300 people turned up over the 3 hour event, including a few BU staff. As well as showcasing two BU Fusion CCCP funded projects, namely, the virtual care home Jan Wiener and Mariela Gaete-Reyes have been developing; and the BUDI project with Applied Sciences taking maritime archaeology out to people with dementia living in the community (both popular interactive stands) we also had the Wii, Kinnect,and iPad set up resulting in children and people with dementia, who had never met before, playing sports games and dancing together courtesy of the technology which we have been successfully using in a Bournemouth Council funded project and an AgeUK match funded PhD studentship project.  Cupcake decoration was a hit with the kids in particular, and was showcasing another Bournemouth Council project we carried out last year ‘The Cupcake club’. The bouncy castle was a hit with young and old alike! The BUDI team also enjoying the face painting stand that one of our RA’s had a constant queue of children waiting to be turned into tigers, butterflies and other colourful images I couldn’t quite work out (including those painted by my own hand …. face painting is clearly not my strongest point!)

AECC provided free massages (creating a little bit of temporary relaxation bliss for me too!), and was part of the agenda of providing support to family carers where the research evidence demonstrates that looking after carers, relaxing in some way being key, enables them to care for their relative for longer at home. Tai Chi and physical exercise demonstrations were also popular and again were selected to demonstrate the evidence that physical activity for people with dementia and their carers can have a positive impact on their well-being.

Wish you had come along? There is a second chance for all BU staff and students to participate as we will be running a repeat (minus the bouncy castle unfortunately) on Tuesday 26^th November, 10-1 at Talbot Campus.