Tagged / ADRC

SERVED research project: Supporting Evidence-based Research for Veterans Experiencing Dementia

SERVED research project: Supporting Evidence-based Research for Veterans Experiencing Dementia

Dementia is a condition which is increasing amongst the general population, and furthermore, military veterans may experience increased exposure to risk factors for developing dementia, including military-related trauma, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite growing dementia prevalence, significant barriers remain to accessing specialised care meeting veterans’ needs.

Findings from our initial research work last year highlighted struggles with navigating healthcare systems, specialised care and the importance of veteran-specific support. However, an even greater finding was the difficulty accessing veterans with dementia.
We are delighted to now continue this work, funded by Dementia Research UK, exploring potential barriers and enablers to seeking support for dementia or memory-related concerns in the veteran community.
The research will involve two different parts: an online survey and focus groups. Participation is open to all veterans who have previously served at least one day in the military. We would then like to co-create an short animation to demonstrate the feedback we have received and continue to raise awareness for the voices of veterans.
For more information or to find out how to take part in the research, please visit our project page: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/served
Sharing of this work with friends, colleagues or contacts who you think may be interested is warmly welcomed! Postcards and other imagery is available, please contact Becky Dew at rdew@bournemouth.ac.uk

Alzheimer’s Awareness Week – join us in BGB on Tuesday 20th May

Join us in learning more about Alzheimer’s and Dementia!

As part of Alzheimer’s Awareness Week, we are excited to invite you to our event on Tuesday 20th May at Bournemouth Gateway Building (BG115/116), hosted by the ADRC, including a variety of sessions open to public, staff and students all around dementia awareness and current research.
We will be holding various dementia-related sessions and talks between 11:00-14:00 open to all, including research on VR and dementia, working with the veteran community and the Time for Dementia programme.
Following this, we are delighted to host our Insight Dementia resource launch event at 15:00-16:30 (further information available via calendar invite). This resource has been designed as an educational tool for hospital staff and can be used alongside our Insight Dementia virtual reality film to maximise learning opportunities. We will also be demonstrating the Insight Dementia virtual reality film in this session, so we warmly welcome you to come and view via the VR headset for a fully immersive experience.
Please do feel free to share details of this event or forward to any relevant contacts you have and let us know if you are available to join us!
Date: Tuesday 20th May 2025
Time: 11-2pm and 15:00-16:30
Location: Bournemouth Gateway Building, Room BG115/116
This free event is open to staff and students to attend. If you are planning to attend the Insight Dementia session later in the afternoon, please book a free ticket on our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1355078198369
For more information, please contact Becky Dew rdew@bournemouth.ac.uk

Photo exhibition happening now at Talbot Campus – Ageing in a digital world

The photo exhibtion currently running in the Atrium Gallery space at Talbot Campus showcases the benefits and hurdles of ageing in a digital world from the stories of older adults.

This research project uses a method called Photovoice to capture images and stories on this topic
www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/projects/perceptions-ageing-digital-world Photo exhibition – Ageing in a digital world

The project is co-created by academic researchers and local older adults, who are co-researchers and members of the ADRC Research Participation Group, after discussing the challenges they face with the digitalisation of society www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/ageing-dementia-research-centre/adrc-research-participation-group

The exhibition is on until 8th May.

 

For more information please contact Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk

Research seminar and tech showcase 12.02.25: ICONIC (Intergenerational Co-design Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities) project

Fusion, innovation, PG research, Research themes

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre are welcoming colleagues from Plymouth University to talk about the ICONIC project (see more details below) and showcase some of the technologies they have created.

 The team are interested in talking to any BU colleagues who work on co-design/digital health or immersive technologies and AI so please do come along (and let Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk know if would like to give a short presentation about your research).

 12th February 2025

11-1pm (presentations will be first and then tech showcase)

P222, Poole House, Talbot Campus

ICONIC Project

The ICONIC (Intergenerational Co-design Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities) project is exploring how co-design of novel technologies can support digital inclusion in Cornwall and Devon. The project recruited 99 participants to join intergenerational co-design workshops to create technologies that support access to environment, heritage, and community resources. The technologies include a social game, immersive heritage and underwater experiences, and a voice AI system accessed via a telephone call. The research team will be sharing their insights from the co-design process for each technology and discuss the effects of participation on digital inclusion.

  • Dr Rory Baxter is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Technology, University of Plymouth, working on the EPSRC funded Intergenerational Codesign Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities (ICONIC) project to address digital exclusion in Cornwall and Devon. The project involves the intergenerational co-design of technologies for supporting access to heritage, environment, and community resources. His previous work includes the ESRC funded GOALD and ERDF funded EPIC projects, which focused on digital health innovation co-design and evaluation to support healthy ageing. Prior to that he completed an EPSRC funded iCASE PhD, exploring human navigation and search behaviour, during which Rory developed VR-based experimental tasks using Unity, which were adapted for online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Dr Oksana Hagen earned a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from NCTU (Taiwan), MSc in Computer Vision and Robotics through the Erasmus Mundus ViBOT program, and a PhD in Computing at the University of Plymouth. After a brief period in industry, Oksana joined Aldebaran AI Lab (France) under a Marie Curie Fellowship to focus on research in machine learning. She subsequently contributed to social robotics research for AgeIn project at the University of Plymouth. Currently, she is part of the ICONIC project, developing VoiceAI and underwater telepresence applications through co-design. Her research interests include machine learning, robotics and HCI.
  • Dr Marius Varga’s expertise sits at the intersection of game technology and user experience, with a focus on serious games and immersive experiences. Currently, a Research Fellow part of the ICONIC project, using a co-design approach, Marius leads the development of a multiplayer Social Game focused on seagrass conservation and for Extended Reality (XR), he is developing an immersive heritage experience in partnership with National Trust. Marius is also involved in digital health projects such part of Bridging project – focused on using XR training with autistic employees and employers and Glider project – addressing challenges in frailty through robotics, play and immersive technology.
  • Dr Linan Zhang holds an MA in East Asian Studies (Japanese) and an MSc in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. She later earned a PhD with Transtechnology Research at the University of Plymouth, where she developed a philosophical framework to ease the paradigm conflicts in knowledge sharing, drawing inspiration from an international health collaboration, a global health crisis, and the development discourse. She is currently an Associate Lecturer for i-DAT, a Research Fellow in Orbital Science, and the Media and Admin officer for the ICONIC Project at the University of Plymouth. Additionally, she serves as an Associate Editor for Leonardo Review.

Digital dementia care: How social media is shaping experiences of dementia

We’re thrilled to invite you to the second online seminar in the new ADRC series. This session will feature Dr. Catherine Talbot from Bournemouth University, presenting: Digital dementia care: How social media is shaping experiences of dementia.

With a rapidly growing population of people affected by dementia and increasing global emphasis being placed on early and timely diagnosis, it is vital to explore creative ways of supporting those affected. Social media has potential to mitigate some of the challenges associated with dementia, by facilitating social connectivity and access to information. Despite these possibilities, research in this area is scarce, and social media platforms are not designed with the specific needs of people with dementia or their carers in mind. In this talk, Dr Catherine Talbot will present the findings from her British Academy funded research, which aimed to explore the attitudes of people with dementia and their carers towards engaging with social media. She will also discuss how educational and technological initiatives can empower people with dementia to use social media safely and effectively.

The seminar is open to all Bournemouth University staff, students, community organisations, and anyone interested in the topic.
Please keep an eye out for upcoming seminars throughout 2025!
See you there!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88106186753?pwd=G65UYAra4oQjjNN76HauXxsBmI0oib.1
Meeting ID: 881 0618 6753
Passcode: $30@u6Af

Successful first session in the ADRC seminar series

We were thrilled to host the first of our new ADRC seminar series last Wednesday and welcomed a range of attendees including academics, practitioners, students and community members.

Dr Michele Board begun the seminar by outlining the project and subject area, its aims and key findings for risk factors for dementia in military veterans. Following this, Rebecca Dew presented the collaborative literature review being carried out by the project team, which also was a great opportunity to hear valuable contributions from project team members. We were then pleased to present the project work undertaken with veterans living dementia and their carers during our creative workshops series which aimed to explore the research priorities for veterans living with dementia. During the seminar session, our documentary film was also presented, and we were thrilled to take part in engaging discussion with attendees around current research for veterans living with dementia, next steps for our upcoming work and the session finished with a thought-provoking Q&A section.
We look forward to welcoming both new and previous attendees to our next session on Wednesday 29th January 3-4pm!

ADRC Launches Online Seminar Series

We’re thrilled to invite you to the first online seminar in the new ADRC series on Wednesday, December 4th, from 3-4pm. This session will feature Dr. Michele Board from Bournemouth University, presenting on the topic: Veterans and Dementia: A Collaborative Research Project.

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at Bournemouth University, with funding from Dementia Research UK, launched a 2023/4 project focused on ex-military veterans—a typically underserved group in dementia research. The project explores veterans’ experiences through collaborative creative workshops, culminating in a documentary-style short film that amplifies their voices and personal stories. During this seminar we will share our film, highlight implications for practice and discuss the next stages of our project.

The seminar is open to all Bournemouth University staff, students, community organisations, and anyone interested in the topic.
Please keep an eye out for upcoming seminars throughout the new year!

Key Details:
• Date: Wednesday 4 December 2024
• Time: 3-4pm
• Topic: Veterans and Dementia: A Collaborative Research Project
• Speaker: Dr. Michele Board, Associate Professor Nursing Older People and Co-Lead Ageing and Dementia Research Centre ADRC
See you there!

Microsoft Teams 
Scan the QR code below or click on this link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZGI0NjE1YTUtNTIzYy00NTljLTk2OTEtYWZiNTc1ZmRjYzUy%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22ede29655-d097-42e4-bbb5-f38d427fbfb8%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22612fce03-de45-44e3-b1e6-8404efc1b742%22%7d
Meeting ID: 364 666 916 013
Passcode: wJyC7U

ADRC attend the ‘On Track’ event at the Bovington Tank Museum

Assoc Prof Dr Michele Board and Rebecca Dew were delighted to attend the “On Track” event at the Bovington Tank Museum at the start of October to present their team’s latest work with veterans living with dementia which was funded by Dementia Research UK.

Following three inspiring talks during the morning session given by ex-military personnel around resilience and mental health, Assoc Prof Michele Board was pleased to introduce and share the documentary film Veterans Living with Dementia, which demonstrates their team’s latest work with veterans living with dementia and exploring their experiences. More information on the project, as well as the film link, can be accessed via the project page on following link: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/projects/creative-workshops-veterans-dementia Please note the documentary film is approximately 10mins long.
Following the presentation, both Michele and Becky represented the ADRC during the lunchtime stalls and had many interesting conversations about the project and people’s experiences of being in the military, living with dementia or knowing someone with dementia, as well as raising awareness for this important subject and work amongst other participating organisations and charities.
Working with Dementia Research UK, the team hopes to continue disseminating the film and building on this initial work and to raise awareness for this subject.
Research project team: Dr Michele Board, Rebecca Dew, Helen Aldridge, Ryan Muldoon, Emma Lucas, Emma Hall, Vikki Tweedy
Documentary creation and editing: Dr Brad Gyori and Benjamin Obojememe

Impact of virtual reality on the well-being and travel experiences of people affected by dementia

BU Challenges, Fusion, Fusion themes, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, REF Subjects, Student Engagement

I am undertaking a research placement as part of my studies on the MSc Foundations of Clinical Psychology. In my role as a research assistant, I have been working on a project that aimed to introduce the idea of travelling using Virtual Reality headsets for people with dementia and their caregivers/ family members. Virtual reality (VR) technology presents a promising means of bridging geographical divides and empowering individuals with dementia to participate in their communities in ways that were not possible prior to diagnosis. Additionally, research has demonstrated the value of virtual reality in helping people with dementia remember their past, revisit their hometown, or most treasured vacation spots. The purpose of this project is to evaluate how virtual reality can support people with dementia with travel and explore the impact on their wellbeing.

This is a collaborative pilot research study involving BU staff from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) (Dr. Michelle Heward, Dr. Catherine Talbot, Dr. Michele Board, Dr Aisling Flynn, Lyndsey Bradley) and the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR) (Dr. Daisy Fan, Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis) alongside colleagues from PramaLife (Sue Warr and Jo Keats) and is funded with QR funding from the Department of Psychology. We collected data on campus, and I was able to support this and had an opportunity to engage with the participants. The participants were asked to come to 2 sessions. The first session consisted of a session in the Blended Learning Interactive Simulation Suite, also known as the BLISS room. In this room, the participants and their caregivers were given the chance to play interactive VR games of their choice on the walls or visit different parts of the UK, such as London and Oxford. The second session consisted of using the VR headsets, where the participants were able to use the headsets themselves, which allows them to virtually experience other parts of the world, by looking around and having access to a 360 view, of a location of their choosing, whether that be somewhere they had never been to or reminisce about places they have been.

Given this immense opportunity to relive and reminisce about their previous experiences around the world, and their respective homes, the reception was overall a positive one. The participants left feeling positive about having virtually visited places from their past and having engaged with places they have never been to or would like to go to in the future. They provided some useful insights and feedback to inform future research in this area. We now move towards analysing and publishing the data.

Roshin Sibu

For more information about this project please email Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk

DNS staff share their virtual reality research at AHSN Wessex

innovation

on behalf of Professor Debbie Holley

I am delighted to report that Dr Michele Board, Dr Heidi Singleton and I were invited to share our virtual reality research as part of the Wessex Academic Health Science Network webinar on 16.03.2023. Dr Board presented her work on ‘walk through dementia’, which brings the reality of lived experiences places the viewer in the shoes of the person with dementia. More information about this projects and the collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Society are available from the ADRC website.

Dr Singleton and I presented on our work on the mental health 360 video scenarios we created for student nurse education which have been embedded within the curriculum.

Evaluated via Focus group discussions (n=6 students) and an online survey (n=33 thus far); with 94% of nursing students reporting that the videos were extremely or very useful for their learning.  

“It flags up potential extra considerations in practice that you wouldn’t anticipate with just the theoretical teaching. You can better visualise.” (Student Nurse 31) 

“It made me feel confident in how to interact with an individual who may be having a mental health breakdown.” (Student Nurse 15) 

“It showed me that you can take time and check the correct information and repeat steps when assessing and treating a patient.” (Student Nurse 8) 

The learning resources mean that students can link theory to practice and can repeat the activity at any point during their course and from any location.

Thanks to the wider team Ursula Rolfe, John Moran, Emma Collins and our former colleague Jasmine Snowden,

 

The King’s Fund roundtable blog

Pooja Shah, a postdoctoral researcher working on the Tangerine project (aiming to develop a novel intervention to improve nutrition and promote healthy ageing among older people from South Asian and Afro Caribbean communities in the UK) attended a roundtable discussion at the King’s Fund to explore what a greater focus on nutrition could mean for the health care system and those at risk of malnutrition. Discussion focused on the causes, prevalence, diagnosis and response to malnutrition. This included how we can engage those working across the health and care system at a national and local level – including primary care, social care, and those with clinical expertise – with improving the early diagnosis of malnutrition through patient screening, greater awareness, and the use of tools for better population health management. In the context of an ageing population, the roundtable also provided an opportunity to discuss the role of improved nutrition and targeted interventions in enabling people to remain independent for as long as possible.

The Kings Fund are delighted to share their recent blog, based on the roundtable discussion.