BU Research Blog

May 31, 2019

Public event – Living well with dementia: Tai Chi, creative drama and independence at home

BU research, Events, Impact, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

Come to this public event on Wed 19 June to hear the latest results from 3 dementia research projects:

The benefits of Tai Chi for people with dementia
Dr Samuel Nyman, chief investigator for The TACIT Trial – TAi ChI for people with demenTia, will present the results of a 3-year study that investigated the benefits of Tai Chi for people with dementia and their informal carers living in their own homes in the Dorset, Southampton, and Portsmouth areas.
Supporting independent living for people with dementia (Project: AD-Autonomy)
As part of a 2-year European funded project (September 2017-August 2019), Dr Ben Hicks has been working with European partners to establish an online information portal to provide guidance on supporting people to maintain their independence while living with dementia. Dr Hicks will discuss the development of the information portal and provide attendees the opportunity to engage with it.
The benefits of creative drama and storytelling for people with dementia (Project: Story to Remember)
As part of another 2-year European funded project (September 2018-August 2020), Dr Ben Hicks has been working with European partners to explore the use of creative drama and storytelling as mediums for enhancing social inclusion in people with dementia. Dr Hicks will present the findings from the first stage of the project.

After the talks, come and meet some of our researchers to hear more about dementia research at Bournemouth University over a free light lunch.

Schedule:
Wednesday 19 June

10:15 Doors open
10:30 Introduction by Professor Jan Weiner, co-head of the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre
10:35 Public lecture by Dr Samuel Nyman on the TACIT Trial
11:20 Short break
11:30 Public lecture by Dr Ben Hicks on AD-Autonomy and Story to Remember
12:15 – 13:00 light lunch and an opportunity to meet the researchers

Register now

Please share the link for this public event dementia-and-living-well.eventbrite.co.uk with anyone who might be interested.

June 22, 2018

Photo of the Week: The TACIT Trial

BU research, Research communication sgardener

The TACIT Trial: TAi ChI for people with demenTia

This week’s photo of the week is Dr Samuel Nyman‘s entry of a Tai Chi class in action. This weekly series features photo entries from our annual Research Photography Competition taken by BU academics, students and professional staff, which gives a glimpse into some of the fantastic research undertaken across the BU community.

The TACIT Trial is all about people. The study is undertaken by a team of researchers led by Dr Samuel Nyman at BU who are looking into the benefits of Tai Chi for people with dementia. Qualified Tai Chi instructors, such as senior instructor Robert Joyce from Elemental Tai Chi (photographed), lead the classes. The classes are attended by people with dementia and their informal carers. The classes involve slow, gentle, fluid body movements and slow breathing that leave you feeling relaxed and yet you have exercised your core muscles. In this randomised controlled trial, we are following up for six months people who have taken part in the classes and practiced at home and are comparing them to others who have not done Tai Chi. This will provide initial evidence for the first time in the UK as to the benefits of Tai Chi for the health and well-being of people with dementia and their informal carers. This photo is taken from a workshop for Solent NHS led the the chief investigator Dr Samuel Nyman and Robert Joyce.

You can find out more about the TACIT Trial here:

Webpage: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/tai-chi/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheTACITTrial/

—

Dr Samuel Nyman is a Principal Academic at Bournemouth University. For more information about this research, please contact Samuel here.

April 30, 2018

New edited Handbook published by Dr Samuel Nyman, The Palgrave Handbook of Ageing and Physical Activity Promotion

BU research, PG research, Public engagement, Research news jbentley

NIHR Career Development Fellow, Dr Samuel Nyman (Dept. Psychology and Ageing & Dementia Research Centre), is the lead editor of a newly published Handbook.

It is published as an eBook and hardback (https://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783319712901), and a copy will be available in the BU library in the near future.

A summary of the book is below:

The Palgrave Handbook of Ageing and Physical Activity Promotion

Presents an ambitious, highly original and very timely addition to the social gerontology canon
Offers a broad expertise across social science and health science, with a strong mix of senior scholars and early career academics
Discusses critically the global issue of an ageing population

The ageing of our population is a key societal issue across the globe. Although people are living longer, they need to be living longer in good health to continue to enjoy quality of life and independence and to prevent rises in health and social care costs. This timely and groundbreaking volume will provide an up-to-date overview of the factors that promote physical activity in later life. Despite advances in the fields of gerontology and geriatrics, sports and exercise science, sociology, health psychology, and public health, knowledge is largely contained within disciplines as reflected in the current provision of academic texts on this subject. To truly address the present and substantial societal challenges of population ageing, a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach is required. This handbook will inform researchers, students, and practitioners on the current evidence base for what physical activities need to be promoted among older people and how they can be implemented to maximise engagement. This handbook will be an invaluable resource for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and students across the social sciences.

June 30, 2016

BUDI presents at the 2016 BU Festival of Learning

BU research, Events, Public engagement, student research, Uncategorized mobrien

On Wednesday 29^th June, BUDI hosted an event ‘(Re) consider Dementia’ as part of the annual BU Festival of Learning. It was a packed day and showcased a number of research projects as well as entertainment from the BUDI Orchestra.

During the morning, Dr Samuel Nyman introduced the TACIT Trial. Funded by the National Institute for Health Research, this project will teach Tai Chi to people living with dementia in the Bournemouth and Southampton areas, with the aim to see whether it leads to improvements in postural balance, health and wellbeing for them and their carer. Some of the Tai Chi exercises were then taught to the participating audience by Robert Joyce of Elemental Tai Chi, who is part of the team working on this project. You can obtain further information by visiting http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/2016/02/18/4170/.

Over the lunch hour, attendees were entertained by the BUDI Orchestra as they held their concert in the Student Hall. This performance was the first of three that will be held over the next 12 months following funding from the Arts Council won earlier this year by Andy Baker, the lead musician. The orchestra is made up of those living with dementia, their carer partners, BU staff (in the picture you can see BU’s Sarah Cronin singing “Danny Boy”) along with 5 talented musicians. Everyone was joyous and in good spirits especially as the BBC were filming the orchestra for their Inside Out programme to be featured in September. Bournemouth Echo as well as BU’s PR team were also taking photos, video clips and quotes from both the orchestra and the audience. You may have seen the Echo’s article already.

May we take this opportunity to ask that should you know of anyone living with dementia that would like to join the orchestra, or if you have any unwanted string or percussion instruments that you no longer have use for then please do contact budi@bournemouth.ac.uk as the orchestra will give them a good home.

The afternoon continued with three interesting presentations focusing on current BUDI research. Dr Michelle Heward started by introducing team posters and presenting Cage Cricket, a pilot project being carried out by Dr Rick Fisher and Ben Hicks who are working in partnership with Dementia Hampshire and Cage4All. To find our more visit http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/2016/06/02/cage-cricket-with-people-with-dementia-and-their-care-partners/

After a short interval, Michelle continued with her own informative project on “Fire safety in the home”. This was funded by the Inspired by 2012 Health & Wellbeing Legacy Fund. Michelle and Dr Fiona Kelly worked closely with Dorset Fire & Rescue in producing training of some staff and literature. Michelle then answered several interesting questions. To find out more visit http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/2016/03/23/fire-safety-innovations-for-people-affected-by-dementia-2/

Finally, Mary Duah-Owusu White presented for the first time on her PhD “Improving care for people in acute hospital wards”. The audience listened with interest and look forward to hearing the outcomes at a future BUDI event.

To find out more about our work please visit our website: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/
Report by Michelle O’Brien, BUDI Administrator

Tagged / The TACIT Trial

Public event – Living well with dementia: Tai Chi, creative drama and independence at home

Register now

Photo of the Week: The TACIT Trial

The TACIT Trial: TAi ChI for people with demenTia

BUDI presents at the 2016 BU Festival of Learning

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