The existing service has enjoyed considerable success, with approximately 60,000 people currently registered, over 10,000 new volunteers in the last year. Volunteers have been involved in a range of studies which have helped improve quality of life and led to some promising pharmaceutical breakthroughs.

Over recent weeks we have discussed the service with people living with dementia and their families, as well as charities, government organisations, researchers and other stakeholders.

This feedback is helping us to understand the current challenges facing users and researchers and how to ensure the service works for them. We are working on a blueprint for an improved dementia research service which will be tested and refined over the coming months.

We are continuing our commitment to involving people with dementia in the design process and to ensure research remains as accessible as possible to people living with the condition. Ultimately, the work should enable more high-quality dementia research to take place through the service and enable more people to actively take part.

We are grateful for the continued support Join Dementia Research receives from the care home community, residents, and their families and friends.

Join Dementia Research stories:

• South London researcher uses Join Dementia Research to boost recruitment
  Olga Borejko spoke about the benefits of using Join Dementia Research to boost recruitment to an NIHR-supported study into dementia with Lewy bodies.
• Taking part in dementia research: Mary’s story
  Mary Stewart-David spoke movingly in a video about her mother’s dementia diagnosis and how this inspired her to get involved in research.
• Ten years in dementia research: Geoff and Susie’s story
  Susie Fenwick was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 and she has since been taking part in research with her husband Geoff to help others with the condition in the future.

Please encourage your residents and their families and friends to sign up to Join Dementia Research.

If you missed our CRED talk this week we have recorded it, therefore you do not need to miss a thing!

We heard from:

Chair: Professor Deborah Sturdy, England’s Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care

Adeela Usman, Doctoral Fellow at the University of Nottingham: QUINCE study: How quality of life is described and can be delivered in care homes

Dr Kellyn Lee, WISER Health and Social Care, and Dr Jane Frankland, University of Southampton: Material Citizenship training: how thinking about everyday objects differently can improve quality of life in care homes

Bryony Beresford, Professor of Health and Care Services Research, University of York: Behind the scenes: organisational features and practices which support and nurture relationship-centred homecare

Please see the recording of the webinar here.

We are now welcoming proposals for #CRED talks on other topics in the months to come. If you are a research team or research-practice partnership with social care research to share, please contact arcwessex@soton.ac.uk to find out more.

“The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a new major study investigating how music therapy can reduce patient distress and physical assaults on NHS inpatient wards for people with dementia.

The study is called MELODIC – Music therapy Embedded in the Life of Dementia mental health Inpatient Care. It’s being led by Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, alongside Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

The researchers are also working in partnership with Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust and Dementia UK.”

Read more here 

“The Royal Mint Museum is a registered charity and an accredited museum based on the Royal Mint site in Llantrisant, South Wales. In 2021, we began offering free-to-loan reminiscence boxes to care homes across the UK. The interactive sessions are centred around an electronic box and a collection of objects. The objects are fitted with a special micro-chip which, when placed on the box, play audio clips to foster memories and conversations about times gone by.

We’ve launched a brand new collection of ten objects all about the Royal Mint! The box contains interesting information about the history and work of the Mint, but the main purpose is to encourage residents and staff to reminisce about a variety of topics from their own lives such as holidays, hobbies and jobs. A Toughbook laptop, kindly donated by Panasonic, is included with every loan.

The boxes are completely free to loan and we cover all transportation costs. The loan period is 20 days, which includes delivery time to the home. The FAQs are available here: https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/collection/borrowabox/.

You are more than welcome to pass this information to any care homes or care settings that you feel it will benefit.

Any enquiries or applications can be sent to this email address: borrowabox@royalmintmuseum.org.uk.”

“Engaging Dementia are excited to announce their 15th International Dementia Conference will take place at the earlier date of 25th and 26th of May this year, and will be held online via Zoom.

It will feature over 20 speakers across two days, with a particular focus on topics of direct interest to those living with dementia.

Day One: Looking at dementia inclusive community services, resources for family carers, and receiving care in your own home.

Day Two: Discussing the services for those in residential care settings, and the latest ideas and innovations to improve long term care services.

General admission and student tickets are available now on their website, starting at just €20.

Additionally, free tickets are available for all persons living with dementia and their family carers with thanks to sponsor Home Instead.

Visit www.engagingdementia.ie for more information.”

“Material Citizenship, a new approach to dementia care, uses objects used to carry out tasks (such as a mobile phone or curling tongs) as a mechanism for improving the care experience for care home staff and people living with dementia in care homes. It does so by:

• Encouraging care home staff to include personal possessions in care plans
• Support use of personal possessions to maintain routines and rituals
• Enable people living with dementia to carry out everyday tasks, supporting them to the live the life they want to live

According to one care home manager, taking a Material Citizenship approach has transformed how they provide care.

They have seen an improvement in the wellbeing of residents and increased confidence in staff who attended the training. Care home staff are now supporting people living with dementia to engage in meaningful activities such as delivering newspapers, baking bread and polishing their own rooms – with the polish they like. It has also had a more fundamental impact on the care practices of a  care home.  In one care home the manager gave an example of how it has changed the culture in the care home. Prior to introducing Material Citizenship catering staff worked certain times of the day and food was restricted to set meal times. This has changed and catering staff are now available to support residents in meal choices and meal times that suit them.  It was also reported that prior to Material Citizenship, time restrictions of when people should leave the care home and return to the care home were in place. Residents no longer need to be back at certain times, they have more freedom to come and go as they wish, something noted by an external healthcare professional as being wonderful.”

Click here  to see Dr Kellyn Lee (Visiting Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton) explain how it works

For more information on Material Citizenship contact: info@materialcitizenship.com

Material Citizenship, a new approach to dementia care, uses objects used to carry out tasks (such as a mobile phone or curling tongs) as a mechanism for improving the care experience for care home staff and people living with dementia in care homes. It does so by:

• Encouraging care home staff to include personal possessions in care plans
• Support use of personal possessions to maintain routines and rituals
• Enable people living with dementia to carry out everyday tasks, supporting them to the live the life they want to live

According to one care home manager, taking a Material Citizenship approach has transformed how they provide care.

They have seen an improvement in the wellbeing of residents and increased confidence in staff who attended the training. Care home staff are now supporting people living with dementia to engage in meaningful activities such as delivering newspapers, baking bread and polishing their own rooms – with the polish they like. It has also had a more fundamental impact on the care practices of a  care home.  In one care home the manager gave an example of how it has changed the culture in the care home. Prior to introducing Material Citizenship catering staff worked certain times of the day and food was restricted to set meal times. This has changed and catering staff are now available to support residents in meal choices and meal times that suit them.  It was also reported that prior to Material Citizenship, time restrictions of when people should leave the care home and return to the care home were in place. Residents no longer need to be back at certain times, they have more freedom to come and go as they wish, something noted by an external healthcare professional as being wonderful.

To hear Dr Kellyn Lee (Visiting Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton) explain how it works click here

“The most exciting development for Alzheimer’s research in recent months has been the CLARITY-AD study results. CLARITY-AD has been investigating the drug lecanemab, which is the first drug to slow cognitive decline in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Join Dementia Research volunteers helped to make these findings possible by taking part in the UK clinical trials. Regulatory approval is now being sought for the drug to be prescribed in the US and Europe.

Some of the many studies currently recruiting through Join Dementia Research include:

• A study investigating the impact of anti-inflammatory drugs on Alzheimer’s disease
• A NIHR-funded study looking at the benefits of singing for people with dementia

The Join Dementia Research service now has 60,000 volunteers signed up to take part in research. This is really positive, but we always need more people to join us to help make research breakthroughs possible. So please encourage your residents and their families and friends to sign up for Join Dementia Research.”

“Back for 2022 Adam Smith is hosting a  12+ hour non-stop livestream discussion with over 60 researchers and special guests, working across all areas of discovery to beat Alzheimer’s disease and all forms of dementia. Raising money for four great research charities and providing insights into the latest research taking place across the UK and Worldwide.

Aimed at anyone with an interest in dementia (including healthcare professionals, clinicians, researchers, people living with dementia and their families). Adam will be interviewing researchers in small groups throughout the day, covering everything from prevention, diagnosis, the latest treatments, improvements in care and everything in between – a link to the stream, a full list of guests and a schedule can be found at www.chatathon.uk.

The event will be streamed free of charge on YouTube, allowing you to drop-in and out, or stay the whole day.

The charities that will benefit from any donations / sponsorship are Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Race Against Dementia & The Lewy Body Society – every £1 counts to fund more vital research. You can donate at www.chatathon.uk

Hear Adam discuss the event here – https://youtu.be/mlLpRGfAyU0

If you have any questions, contact adam.smith@ucl.ac.uk

“Senior Research Fellowship

Senior Research Fellowships are designed to retain excellent clinical and non-clinical researchers who have a track record of nationally competitive research, and clear plans to manage their own independent research group and become internationally recognised within the field of biomedical dementia research.

Grant amount: Up to £420,000

Grant deadline: 25 January 2023

The Major project grant scheme provides funds for intermediate to large scale research projects.

Grant deadline: 25 January 2023

Early Career Researcher Bridge Fund

This scheme aims to enable the retention of early career researchers in dementia research or to address particular pinch points in their career path.

Grant amount: Up to £30,000

Grant deadline:  18 November 2022″

For more details click here