Research Leads:
- Dr Roser Beneito-Montagut, Cardiff University (technologies, later life and social connectedness)
- Dr Sofia Vougioukalou, Cardiff University (dementia and under-represented communities)
Research Members and collaborations:
Aberystwyth University
Professor Charles Musselwhite, Professor and Head of Psychology, with a Chair in the Psychology Department at Aberystwyth University. Expert in dementia care in rural communities.
Swansea University
Dr Deborah Morgan, Senior Research Officer in the Centre for Innovative Ageing and ENRICH Cymru Manager, Swansea University. Expert in loneliness and social isolation.
CARE
Professor Paul Willis – Director of Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE), Cardiff University. Expert in trans ageing and men’s health.
Dr Jeremy Dixon, Reader, CARE, Cardiff. Expert in dementia and adult safeguarding policies.
Dr. Victoria Shepherd – Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Trial Research, Cardiff University. Expert in dementia & consent for people with limited capacity.
Dr Rebecca Oatley, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Expert in dementia & leisure
Dr Josie Henley, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Expert in dementia, neurodiversity & diagnosis.
Funder(s): Universities Wales
Funding amount: £7,402.00
Project start date: 01/03/2024
Project end date: 31/03/2025
Introduction:
Technology is reshaping the way adult social care services are delivered. Tech benefits for a “Dementia Friendly Wales” will only be realised if innovation reaches rural and urban environments and underrepresented people living with dementia, such as migrants, neurodivergent people, LGBT+ groups and people with disabilities.
Dementia often makes people withdraw from society and activities that bring them joy, meaning, and purpose. Using assistive technologies such as AI, wearables, smart devices, sensors, and robots in dementia care can help people to lead more fulfilling and independent lives.
We collaborated with academics, people affected by dementia and third sector professionals to investigate the issues that affect diverse people with dementia, and their formal and informal carers when using assistive technologies.
This is the first project on this topic in Wales. We combine expertise in socio-gerontology, social work, and user-centre design to address some key issues faced by under-represented groups affected by dementia.
This project came together in a CARE dementia group meeting where we quickly identified expertise in the area. CARE allowed us to respond promptly to a funding call and put together a multi-disciplinary team.
Study methods and activities:
Eight people affected by dementia reviewed the research proposal and identified it as of importance to improving the experience of living with and/or caring for someone with dementia. This group includes a member of the LGBT+ community and a man from the Gypsy/Traveller community living with dementia, carers who are visually impaired, Deaf/BSL users, people who have English as their second language and members of the Pakistani, Indian and Afro-caribbean communities.
We engaged with public involvement contributors from the 3 Nations Dementia Working Group, Lleisau Dementia, British Deaf Association, Wales Council for Deaf People, Down’s Syndrome Association, LGBTQ+ Dementia Advisory Group and Nubian Life. We held eleven events, four in-person meetings and seven online meetings which included 12 people living with dementia, 14 carers, 13 third-sector professionals, 10 academics and 12 social care professionals. Two carers contributed as co-designers and co-facilitators in two face-to-face engagement events with people with lived experiences. In these meetings, we discussed benefits and barriers of using technologies, imagined new technologies for people with a progressive cognitive impairment, and mapped the funding landscape.
Findings:
Ongoing
Further information: