This instalment of North West ENRICH News focuses on the various events that have taken place this summer in which the North West Enrich network has been engaging.

Addison Court in Accrington has been working hard during the Dementia awareness week this year, to provide open days for members of the public to visit and learn about what it is like to live with Dementia. This was conducted under the Dementia Friends scheme which aims to get people helping those with Dementia in their local communities. We helped during this week to promote research and give a better understanding of what is on the horizon for Dementia treatments. We would like to say a big thanks to Ann-Marie the care home manager at Addison Court for inviting us to this and putting together a great event.

The Manchester University Care Home Research Interest Group also held a conference this summer to discuss a project looking at intimacy in care homes. Intimacy is a human need and it can often be difficult for couples in care homes to have time together due to lack of privacy. The event brought together researchers, care home staff and members of the public to discuss these issues with the aim of helping guide future research. We listened to a number of informative speakers and had some great group discussions from this. Thank you to everyone who attended and for making it a very interesting event.

Study wise, we are still working on setting up numerous projects in areas such as human rights in dementia care, agitation and quality of life. I hope to have more detailed information once the studies are up and running in the very near future.

We are always looking for more homes who are interested in joining the network, any queries relating to this can be sent to phillip.tinkler@nihr.ac.uk or by calling 0161 276 3324