Tagged / ADRC

Join our upcoming research seminars

BU research, Events, Research Centres, Research news, research staff

Seminar 1

Title: Dementia and digital selfhood: Identity formation in the age of social media

Speaker: Dr Catherine Talbot

Date and time: 10th February @ 12.30pm

Abstract:  A diagnosis of dementia in mid-life can be challenging, often causing losses or changes in a person’s identity as a worker, partner, or parent. Dementia also continues to be a stigmatised condition, whereby those with the diagnosis are frequently identified as ‘victims’ and ‘sufferers’. In contrast, social media may provide some individuals with a means of reconstructing identity, by facilitating narrative and community membership. In this presentation, Dr Catherine Talbot will discuss the findings of her interview study with 11 people with young-onset dementia who use Twitter. Her findings suggest that people with young-onset dementia are using Twitter to re-establish, communicate, preserve, and redefine their identities. However, there are some risks as Twitter was sometimes a hostile environment for individuals who did not present in a ‘typical’ manner or faced technical difficulties because of their symptoms. These findings have important implications for post-diagnostic support provision and the design of accessible social media platforms.

Seminar 2

Title: Functional and structural plasticity in the ageing brain  

Speaker: Prof Hana Burianová 

Date and time: 20th April @12.30pm

Abstract: Determining the mechanisms that underlie neurocognitive ageing and facilitating the development of effective strategies for cognitive improvement are essential due to the steadily rising ageing population. One approach to study the characteristics of ageing comprises the assessment of functional and structural connectivity in the brain, delineating markers of age-related neurocognitive plasticity. In this talk, Prof. Hana Burianová will discuss the findings of several neuroimaging studies, which demonstrate evidence of age-related functional alterations, such as compensation and/or dedifferentiation, as well as structural decline, such as reduced white matter integrity. The complex relations between the brain reorganisation and behavioural performance have critical implications for the efficiency of neurocognitive functioning in older adults. 

Seminar 3

Title: Interactive Digital Narratives for Health: Approaches to using storygames as intervention and education  

Speaker: Dr Lyle Skains 

Time and date: 16th June @ 12.30pm

Abstract: 

Interactive digital narratives (IDNs) (a.k.a. digital fiction, storygames, hypertexts, interactive fiction) are an emerging form of engaging storytelling adaptable to many devices, platforms, purposes, and audiences. This talk highlights pilot studies in creating and using IDNs as health and science education-through-entertainment on the Playable Comms project (playablecomms.org). As an interdisciplinary network of projects, Playable Comms combines science and arts research and practice to develop a model for creation of health- & sci-comm IDNs, and evaluates their efficacy, attempting to measure message uptake from outright rejection to holistic adoption engendering associated behavioural change. IDNs can be used in schools, GP waiting rooms, on tablets and smartphones; interactivity significantly increases retention, particularly when incorporated into media that audiences voluntarily and eagerly devote attention to.  

We hope you will join us at our seminars, if you are interested in attending please email adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk and we will send you the relevant zoom meeting details.

Thank you for your support

Best wishes

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre

You are invited to the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre Seminar

BU research, Events, Research news, Student Engagement

You are cordially invited to this seminar which is open to all BU staff and students.

(Please email adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk for the zoom link to access the seminar).

 

 

Dementia and digital selfhood: Identity formation in the age of social media.

Dr. Catherine Talbot

10th February @ 12.30pm

Abstract:  A diagnosis of dementia in mid-life can be challenging, often causing losses or changes in a person’s identity as a worker, partner, or parent. Dementia also continues to be a stigmatised condition, whereby those with the diagnosis are frequently identified as ‘victims’ and ‘sufferers’. In contrast, social media may provide some individuals with a means of reconstructing identity, by facilitating narrative and community membership. In this presentation, Dr Catherine Talbot will discuss the findings of her interview study with 11 people with young-onset dementia who use Twitter. Her findings suggest that people with young-onset dementia are using Twitter to re-establish, communicate, preserve, and redefine their identities. However, there are some risks as Twitter was sometimes a hostile environment for individuals who did not present in a ‘typical’ manner or faced technical difficulties because of their symptoms. These findings have important implications for post-diagnostic support provision and the design of accessible social media platforms.

Biography: Catherine is a cyberpsychologist specialising in social media, health, and qualitative methods. Her PhD research concerned the use of Twitter by people with dementia to facilitate social connection, self-expression, and a sense of identity. She is interested in positive technology usage by people with stigmatised health conditions and how technologies can be developed to promote wellbeing and social inclusion. Catherine is a committee member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Cyberpsychology Section.

Please email adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk for the zoom link to access the seminar.

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre’s Virtual Coffee Morning

Coffee Morning, Research Centres, Research news

Do you know someone aged 65+ that would like to attend?

Myself and colleagues at Bournemouth University’s Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) are really excited to announce our new informal coffee morning, this is starting in January 2021. These coffee mornings are an opportunity for anyone aged 65 and over to hear more and chat about our research. They will take place regularly online (at least for the time being) as we thought it might be nice to engage about our research in a new way in the new year. We are keen for these sessions to be interactive and fun and to hear feedback on study ideas (even develop new ideas) as well as progress our findings.

ADRC Virtual Coffee Morning – 6th January 2021 at 10 am on Zoom

Our co-Lead of the ADRC Professor Jane Murphy will join us to talk about a new simple tool to detect undernutrition in older people living in the community through a conversation. Also, it helps to signpost to resources and support as required. The tool is called the ‘Nutrition Wheel’.

For more details, click this link: https://www.malnutritiontaskforce.org.uk/nutrition-wheel

At the session she will explain the reasons why older people become undernourished and talk about the tool. We would welcome your thoughts about this to help with further work too.

 If you know someone that would like to join us at the coffee morning please email adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk and we will send you the Zoom meeting details.

 

Interested in cancer research and impacts on patients and professionals?

Events, Research Centres

 

 

If so, sign-up to the National Cancer Research Institute’s Virtual Show case on 2-3 November 2020 https://www.ncri.org.uk/

 

Prof Jane Murphy from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre will be presenting findings from  the largest national survey of health care professionals on their  provision of nutritional care on behalf of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cancer and Nutrition. Collaboration. The survey of 610 health care professionals working with cancer patients found that only 39% were aware of nutritional guidelines and just 20% felt completely confident in providing nutritional advice, despite 94% of respondents stating that they discuss nutrition with their patients.

Using Drama and Storytelling in Dementia Care

BU research, EU, Impact

 

Irma Konovalova, Danielle Wyman, Dr Ben Hicks and Prof Jan Wiener, members of the ADRC, have been working on ERASMUS+ funded project ‘Using Drama and Storytelling in Dementia Care’. This project has demonstrated the potential for creative psychosocial initiatives to support well-being in people with dementia and their care partners. The team have been working in collaboration with people with dementia to develop a storytelling and creative drama programme that aimed to enhance communication within this population and promote a positive sense of identity.

The Story2Remember team have produced the third output “Storytelling and alternative communication methods in dementia care: Toolkit for family members”. This toolkit aims to enhance the skills of family members of people with dementia through the use of  storytelling as well as alternative communication methods. The toolkit includes a brief description of the most common situations in which communication difficulties may arise, it describes how storytelling and alternative communication methods can be used in these situations and provides step by step guidelines to implement activities that can support communication between people with dementia and their family.

We asked dementia professionals from the partnering countries, England, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, to review this toolkit and provide their feedback. Professionals identified it as a useful toolkit to support communication between family members and people with dementia. They thought it is well supported by empirical evidence and suggested that this toolkit provides new and alternative ways to communicate with people with dementia that may stimulate memories and positive feelings. One of the professionals reported: “the activities that have been created and outlined at the end of the booklet are an excellent way of developing communication and enhancing the caring relationship between the person with dementia and the family member”. Some professionals also suggested that this toolkit raises awareness of the importance of communication.

Reviewers also commented on how professional and engaging look of the toolkit looks and that it has been written and designed very well. There are a lot of useful tips for family members and practitioners to enhance their communication techniques with people with dementia and it has been tailored to specific difficulties people with dementia and their family may encounter throughout the progress of dementia. The toolkit emphasises individual differences and encouraged people to address them. Reviewers also enjoyed the case study examples of people using story-telling communication techniques to support the person with dementia: “These added some real-life examples to the text and helped to show how they can work in practice”. They suggested that the communication methods encourage originality and creativity.

Reviewers liked the novel ideas and suggestions to support communication, especially the Adventures: “I think the Adventures are excellent and provide a really useful, creative and engaging mechanism for family members to communicate with the person with dementia. I think these activities will be of real benefit to family members who find it difficult to communicate with the person with dementia and are struggling for activities to engage them. This is likely to be even more pertinent in the current global context, where people are self-isolating at home and are likely to be in desperate need of mental, physical and emotional stimulation”.

Professionals also highlighted some areas for improvement that could be addressed in the future. For example, some practitioners mentioned that it may become challenging to use some of the suggested strategies once dementia is more advanced. They wanted more information about how to adapt communication strategies to different stages of dementia, especially if people with dementia eventually loose the ability to communicate. It may have also been useful to address the emotional impact that the progression of dementia has on family members and care partners and how these emotions can be managed.

Even though majority of professionals suggested that the toolkit is very easy to follow and that it is written clearly and contains a logical flow to it, there were suggestions about how the large amount of information provided by the toolkit could be presented in a more accessible format, for example by providing links within the text and by avoiding terms such as ‘personhood’ and ‘PwD’, especially for the lay audience.

Generally, however, the reviewers provided very positive feedback, reporting that the toolkit met their expectations and the content was excellent. They emphasised how much they enjoyed reviewing the toolkit and how novel it was.

“Thank you for your research, implementation and desire for improvement of the tool!”

“I am really glad that this new approach has been taken for the benefit of people with dementia and family members. It is a tool for all family members who care for people with dementia, whether they are in the early or advanced stages of the disease.”

“Thank you for the shared experience!”

“I think this is a really excellent project that demonstrates the importance of creative initiatives to support the well-being of people with dementia and their family members. It will be important to publicise the toolkit widely and so ensure that family members develop the knowledge and skills to run these beneficial activities”.

The toolkit can be downloaded on the project website: https://story2remember.eu/

The provision of nutritional advice and care for cancer patients

BU research, Impact, Research Centres

Prof Jane Murphy from the ADRC and Lead of the Professionals Workstream for the NIHR Cancer and Nutrition Collaboration Research has just published the largest UK survey looking at the provision of nutritional care for cancer patients across a wide range of health care professionals has just been published in Supportive Care in Cancer. See below for details:

https://rdcu.be/b68QL

A tool to identify the risk of malnutrition in older people

BU research, Research Centres, Research news

Research validating a tool to identify the risk of malnutrition, in older people, is among the top 10% most downloaded papers in 2018-19, published in Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics!

The research was led by Prof Jane Murphy, working in collaboration with the Wessex Academic Health Science Network and The Patients Association.

Identifying older people at risk of malnutrition and treatment in the community: prevalence and concurrent validation of the Patients Association Nutrition Checklist with ‘MUST’

Malnutrition is already a huge issue in the UK and current national policy for the Covid-19 crisis means that social isolation and loneliness in older people will significantly impact on food intake and in turn increase the risk of malnutrition. However in the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of the validated Patients Association Nutrition Checklist has increased given its simplicity,  ease of use and can be carried out remotely so that people can access appropriate help and support where needed.

For more details see:

https://wessexahsn.org.uk/projects/325/nutrition-in-older-people

https://www.malnutritiontaskforce.org.uk/resources-and-tools/self-screening-pack

NEW RESOURCES for older people who are at risk of malnutrition during the Covid-19 pandemic

COVID-19

 

Working in collaboration with Malnutrition Task Force/Age UK and the Wessex AHSN, Prof Jane Murphy from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre has developed new resources for older people who are at risk of malnutrition whilst self-isolating during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Resources can be accessed from the just launched Malnutrition Task Force/Age UK Coronovirus Information Hub  with helpful information resources and tools for anyone who supports older people.

See the Coronavirus Information

Hub and ow.ly/Yke650zmhse

for more information.

Wessex Brain Ageing and Dementia Research Meeting

Events, Research news

Members from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre were invited to present at the Wessex Brain Ageing and Dementia Research meeting on 4th February, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton. Hosted by IDeAC, NIHR CRN and ARC Wessex, the event showcased dementia research in Wessex, linking dementia researchers across Wessex and grow the network for clinical trials.

PGR Raysa ElZein presented a poster on research on dietary fat interventions in cognitive impairment and older people, Dr Michele Board on research using the ‘A Walk Through Dementia’ app, Dr Samuel Nyman presented his research on Tai Chi  (The TACIT Trial)  for people with dementia and Prof Jane Murphy gave an overview of the ADRC’s research and a workshop on PPI and dementia research with Dr Michelle Heward. It was a great opportunity to share research and grow opportunities to collaborate on projects across Wessex and cross disciplines with academics and stakeholders attending.

27th Managing Osteoporosis Conference – Prof Jane Murphy and Dr Susan Dewhurst

BU research, Events, Research news

 

Both Dr Susan Dewhurst and Prof Jane Murphy from BU’s Ageing and Dementia Research Centre  were invited to speak at the 27th Managing Osteoporosis conference 2019 on 9-10th December 2019 at RBCH alongside a number of high profile speakers from across the UK.  There were over 200 delegates from across the South including consultants, nurses and other Allied Health Professionals.  Susan spoke about ‘Exercise for Fall Prevention: What Works?’, whilst Jane updated delegates on ‘Diet, Nutrition and Ageing’.

The talks garnered a lot of interest  with new insights for  bone health and managing osteoporosis and opportunities for collaboration.

 

 

Summary: Third Transnational Project Meeting (TPM) 21-22 November 2019

BU research, Events

 

Stories to remember in Bournemouth

It has been wonderful to host the third transnational project meeting in Bournemouth bringing together the team from Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Romania, and the UK (pictured) to advance the Story2Remember ERASMUS+ project: Using drama and storytelling in dementia care.

Following an introduction from Professor Jan Wiener about the work of the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre at Bournemouth University, Andreea presented on activities and results from year one and talked the team through next steps for year two.

Intellectual Output 2: Story2Remember

Each team presented their results and outputs from delivering Story2Remember for both phase 1, delivering Story2Remember to people with dementia and phase 2, delivering the ToT training to professionals in the dementia field. The overall results across all the teams were extremely positive for both phase 1 and 2. Feedback will be used to finalise the Story2Remember handbook.

Intellectual Output 3: The Toolkit

Collaborative discussions brought about positive actions to set out our next steps for the toolkit and its layout and structure agreeing for both website, PDF and paper copy it should:

  • Focus on improving communication between carer and person with dementia
  • Be user friendly
  • Be easy to navigate and use
  • Be a supportive platform for carers

The key focus from now is to build the content for the toolkit with the aim of piloting to users in March 2020.

TPM3 was an extremely proactive and collaborative meeting with celebration on successful delivery of IO2 and tangible next steps agreed for IO3.

By Danielle Wyman (Research Assistant for ADRC, Bournemouth University).

 

Website: https://story2remember.eu/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/STORY2REMEMBER.EU/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Story2rememberE

Wheels in Motion! BU at the APP Food and Health Forum

BU research, Events, Research news

Prof Jane Murphy (Ageing and Dementia Research Centre, ADRC) was invited to speak at the All Party Parliamentary Food and Health Forum (22nd October 2019) on the topic of malnutrition. Chaired by Sir David Amess MP, Jane spoke about nutrition related problems in older adults including people living with dementia, food and hydration problems in hospitals and tackling malnutrition more effectively across health and social care. She also shared research informed resources that help identify malnutrition including the ‘Nutrition Wheel’ and  the Eating and Drinking Well with Dementia guides for care staff and family carers and friends produced by the ADRC. BU PhD student Gladys Yinusa (supervised by Dr Janet Scammell, Prof Jane Murphy and Dietetic Manager Grainne Ford) attended the meeting. Jane raised awareness of her research on food and nutritional care at Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust.

Dr Trevor Smith, President of British Association for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN) presented preliminary findings of the malnutrition screening survey as part of its work during Malnutrition Awareness Week 2019 14-20th October as well as Declan O’Brien, Director General, British Specialist Nutrition Association who spoke about the costs and health impacts of malnutrition.

There was much discussion and important concerns were raised by Eleanor Smith MP, Baroness Walmsley, Baroness Greengross as well as representatives from member organisations including the British Dietetic Association, Association for Nutrition and other attendees. MPs attending offered their help to take forward some of key issues discussed including the need for public health policy to recognise the nutritional needs of older people and effective malnutrition screening and treatment policy. Much to follow up on and real scope for impact.

The minutes will be available for public view on the APP Food and Health Forum webpage.

ADRC wins the Nutrition Resource of the Year at the 2019 Complete Nutrition Awards

BU research, Events, Impact, Research Centres, Research news

The Nutrition Resource of the Year is made up of four resources called Nutrition and Dementia Care: A toolkit for health and care staff. The toolkit is to provide freely available resources to deliver person-centred nutritional care in the area of dementia. The toolkit has been used all over the UK and overseas, as far afield as Australia and is the WINNER of the 2019 CN Award for Nutrition Resource of the Year!

Both Professor Jane Murphy and Gill Hooper represented the team by attending the 2019 CN Award ceremony last Thursday 29th September in London.

In the photo: Gill Hooper (Research Assistant) and Professor Jane Murphy (Professor of Nutrition and Co-Director of ADRC)

The team that produced the toolkit includes Professor Jane Murphy, Gill Hooper (linked with the Greater Manchester Nutrition and Hydration programme), Dr Joanne Holmes and Caroline Jones.

 

In the photo: Caroline Jones, Dr Joanne Holmes and Professor Jane Murphy

 

 

 

 

 

 

The toolkit comprises:

  1. Eating and Drinking Well: Supporting People Living with Dementia workbook
  2. Eating and Drinking Well Training Video
  3. Eating and Drinking Well Nutrition leaflet
  4. Eating and Drinking Well with Dementia: A Guide for Care Staff

It is available to download for free on our specific ADRC training page, please visit: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/ageing-dementia-research-centre/eating-drinking-well-dementia-toolkit.

Just launched!

We have just launched our new Eating and Drinking Well with Dementia: A Guide for Family Carers and Friends which will be available to download from the ADRC training page soon.

 Please visit our training page and spread the word of our training resources.

 

 

The CN Awards* provide the chance for all readers, advertisers and contributors of CN
Magazines to come together to recognise the achievements of those whose great work
has made a significant difference within the nutrition industry – whether an individual,
group or organisation. For further information about the CN Awards, visit: nutrition2me.com/cn-awards

*The annual CN Awards were launched in 2010 by Complete Media & Marketing Ltd. (CM2) – the publishers of Complete Nutrition (CN)
Magazines. CM2 do not endorse any particular individual’s, group’s, organisation’s or company’s products, services, resources, views or
opinions. For further details on the CN Awards, visit: nutrition2me.com/cn-awards

WINNER of the 2019 CN Award for Nutrition Resource of the Year

BU research, Impact, Research news, Research Training

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre is proud to announce that we are the winner of the 2019 Complete Nutrition Award for Resource of the Year.

This is for the Nutrition and Dementia Care: A toolkit for health and care staff. This is made up of four resources:
1) Eating and Drinking Well: Supporting People Living with Dementia workbook
2) Eating and Drinking Well Training Video
3) Eating and Drinking Well Nutritional leaflet
and the
4) Eating and Drinking Well with Dementia: A Guide for Care Staff
The toolkit is available to download for free on our specific ADRC training page, please visit: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/ageing-dementia-research-centre/eating-drinking-well-dementia-toolkit
From this work we have developed an Eating and Drinking Well with Dementia: A Guide for Family Carers and Friends which will be launched this month.

 

The CN Awards* provide the chance for all readers, advertisers and contributors of CN
Magazines to come together to recognise the achievements of those whose great work
has made a significant difference within the nutrition industry – whether an individual,
group or organisation. For further information about the CN Awards, visit:
nutrition2me.com/cn-awards
*The annual CN Awards were launched in 2010 by Complete Media & Marketing Ltd. (CM2) – the publishers of Complete Nutrition (CN)
Magazines. CM2 do not endorse any particular individual’s, group’s, organisation’s or company’s products, services, resources, views or
opinions. For further details on the CN Awards, visit: nutrition2me.com/cn-awards

Summary: Second Transnational Project Meeting (TPM) 23-24 May 2019

BU research

 

 

 

 

 

Stories to remember in Thessaloniki

It has been wonderful to bring together the team from Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Romania, and the UK (pictured) within the second transnational project meeting from Thessaloniki, 23-24 May 2019, to advance the Story2Remember ERASMUS+ project: Using drama and storytelling in dementia care.

Collaborative discussions brought about positive actions to set out our next steps including:

  • actions for disseminating Intellectual Output 1: the booklet.
  • agreement for our evaluation process and next steps of how we will capture the impact of the ‘Story2remember’ training program and workshops.
  • a timeline for piloting the ‘Story2remember’ training, delivery and data collection.
  • a more cohesive outlook and next steps on how we can take forward Intellectual Output 3: the toolkit.

We also discussed about the peer-review of the first Intellectual Output achieved, the booklet in creative drama and storytelling for practitioners and further impact in the field and future project activities. The booklet is aimed at dementia practitioners and provides an overview of how creative drama and storytelling are being used within the dementia care field and the benefits they may have for the well-being of people living with dementia and their care partners. It is wonderfully designed and will be key tool to bring about opportunities for our communities to engage with this exciting project. Thank you to everyone for their input and a special thank you to Dr. Ben Hicks for creating this dynamic and engaging booklet which personifies this project. We look forward to sharing the booklet with everyone.

We were honoured to have two enthusiastic and passionate guest speakers whose research focuses on using creative arts to enhance wellbeing for people living with dementia connected to Alzheimer Hellas. Firstly, Professor Magda Tsolaki talked about the benefits for people living with dementia linked to their research using non-pharmacological interventions involving creative arts and art therapy. Professor Tsolaki also spoke about the work they are doing to support carers and caregivers. Secondly, Elena Poptsi talked about the benefits associated with their research using dance and drama therapy for people living with dementia. It was enlightening to have an insight into the exciting research being carried out, which is positively changing the landscape for people living with dementia in Greece.

Gaiety School of Acting, the partner from Ireland shared the latest news on the ‘Story2remember’ creative drama and storytelling pilot workshops, which have initially shown to bring about a sense of inclusion for people living with dementia. We look forward to getting our creative hats on and immersing ourselves in the training from Dublin in August, where we will all receive the ‘Story2remember’ training in using creative drama and storytelling in dementia care.

By Danielle Wyman Research Assistant for ADRC (Bournemouth University).

 

Website: https://story2remember.eu/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/STORY2REMEMBER.EU/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Story2rememberE

Alzheimer’s Society Conference 2019

BU research

 

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre’s Amanda Adams and Dina Blagden attended the Annual Alzheimer’s Society Conference at the Oval in London last May 2019, and joined Health Education England (HEE) (Jan Zietara: Head of Programme Delivery – South Health Education England, and Chris O’Connor: Consultant Admiral Nurse/HEE Dementia Fellow Health Education England) on the stand. They spoke to a range of people about the Dementia Education and Learning Through Simulation 2 ( DEALTS 2) training – the ADRC team are currently delivering  the training for a second time, across the South of England.

Dina presented a poster on research evaluation of DEALTS 2 from training sessions delivered from the first round, funded by HEE. These resources provide a simulation-based training package for staff working regularly with people living with dementia. The simulation approach aims to facilitate staff to consider experiences from the point of view of a person living with dementia. These resources can be adapted to be relevant in different settings, and have been designed using low key simulation scenarios, with the opportunity to be adjusted to suit the level of resources available.