BU Research Blog

The Ageing & Dementia Research Centre hosted a free public event in June with 52 attendees from local organisations, members of the public and researchers. The purpose of the event was to bring people together to showcase research and initiatives around the theme of ageing well.  

Key speaker

The key speaker of the event was Rachel Woodward Carrick, speaker and author of Happy Silver People: How to make life happier as you grow older within the BGB lecture theatre.

Presentations/showcase

Both Mel Hughes and Angela Paget from PIER shared some of their learning from a collaboration with the BCP Age Friendly Communities network.

Here are some words from Mel summarising the collaboration – The BU PIER partnership have been supporting this work as forum and steering group members from the start and so it felt a natural opportunity to collaborate when we were asked to start a conversation with older people across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, on envisioning an age friendly community. We used appreciative inquiry and the 4D model of discover, dream, design and deliver to provide a framework for a series of workshops conducted in March 2024 with Age Friendly partners, Beautiful Wisdom, Salvation Army, Prama Care and Christchurch Community Partnership. We posed the same question to the conference attendees – if there are no limits, what, for you does an age friendly community look and feel like. It was great to see how open and engaged the attendees were to envision an age friendly community and the steps they would take to making it a reality. We are excited to share the report from the March conversations in July.

There were tables set up in BG 115 and 116 where local care organisations showcased their services and BU research staff showcased their research allowing people to browse their stands and to ask questions, as well as getting hold of some much-favoured merchandise! There was also a visit from the very special Nelly the therapy dog from the company ‘Hey Doggie’ with her owner Jacqui, who we have built a good relationship with having first met them at the Dog Café event at the Potteries Care Home (this takes place the second Wednesday of each month).

There was also the chance to hear from the ADRC Research Participant Group, who shared their experiences of contributing to research. This group meets monthly via Zoom with two in-person meetings taking place each year. We are always looking for new members of the public to join this group. Further details can be found on www.bournemouth.ac.uk/adrc (if you know of anyone who would be interested in joining or if you are a BU researcher who would like to present your research at one of these monthly meetings, in order to get public engagement with your project).

Yoga activity

After a very successful morning at the event, we were joined by a Sport BU yoga teacher, Melsia Tomlin-Kraftner, who gave us all an introduction to Chair Yoga in the lecture theatre, this was a very engaging and informative session on the benefits of regular movement as we age, as well as providing a lot of laughs from those participating.

Event highlights

Associate Professor Susan Dewhurst and Associate Professor Michele Board the co-lead of the centre and Dr Michelle Heward the deputy co-lead of the centre have provided their best bits of the event below:

• My highlight was the atmosphere and energy that was present in the showcase event. Given the diversity of tables, there was something for everyone, making it a really inclusive event (Dr Susan Dewhurst).
• It was very much an example of a collaborative, community event with sharing of expertise about ageing (the lived experience!) and research we are doing to promote healthy ageing and raising our understanding of people living with dementia (Dr Michele Board).
• Hearing from members of the public about their involvement in ADRC research and what it meant to them was a powerful reminder of the impact that our research can have on our local community. Attendees gave positive feedback about the event, one attendee said, ‘Interesting talks in the lecture theatre, fascinating info and chat in the ‘break out room’ and especially great to meet the research students – such a credit to BU! I found it all energising and stimulating and am better informed all round after attending’ (Dr Michelle Heward).

The work of the ADRC focuses around maintaining good quality of life as we age and supporting those living with long-term conditions in older age, such as dementia. Please follow us on social media @BournemouthADRC to keep up to date with our latest news and visit our website www.bournemouth.ac.uk/adrc to check out more about our research and our education and training resources.