The Ageing Scientist

Dementia Action Week 2022

It's Dementia Action Week 2022 in the UK. This week, there are plenty of activities to raise awareness and spring into action to address dementia. In the next couple of years, there will be an estimated 1 million people living with dementia in the UK, and we've already reached 55 million world wide. And of course, there are hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers supporting their relative or friend with dementia.

In this special #DAW2022 episode, I am talking to the Alzheimer's Society (Malayka Rahman and Hayley Hogan) and Hilary Tetlow, former carer and host of the peer support groups SURF Liverpool, about what DAW means and what we can all do to address dementia.

S4E5 Ethnicity and dementia

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Sahdia Parveen from the Centre for Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford. Sahdia is a health psychologist, and we are discussing how people from minority ethnic backgrounds experience accessing dementia care, with a particular focus on people from South Asian communities. 

Follow Sahdia on twitter: @SahdiaParveen

 

S4E4 Young-onset dementia

What is young-onset dementia? What is it like living with dementia at a younger age and caring for a loved one? In this podcast, Chris and Jayne are sharing their personal story about living with dementia and caring, and changing the attitude of how one can live with dementia. Dr Monica Cations is also joining the panel and discussing her insights from how the Australian care sector supports people with young-onset dementia.

Chris Roberts is from Wales. He is living with emphysema and with mixed dementia, Vascular and Alzheimers. He spends a lot of time raising awareness of dementia, its symptoms, promoting better services and support to dispel the stigma that it is associated with together with his wife Jayne Goodrick. He is a Board Member of Alzheimer Europe as well as the Chair of the European Working Group of People With Dementia, and an Ambassador for Alzheimer’s Society UK/Cymru. 

Monica Cations is a psychologist and epidemiologist who has worked in clinical and research roles with people with young onset dementia and their care partners for over a decade. Monica’s research currently focusses on post-diagnosis service delivery for young people with dementia, aiming to improve access to high quality, person-driven care.

To follow Chris, Jayne, and Monica on twitter, here are their handles: @Chris Roberts, @Jayne Goodrick, @monicacations

 

S4E3 Rare dementias

In this episode, I am talking to academic-clinician Dr Anna Volkmer, The Lewy Body Society charity, and Dr Riona McArdle. We are discussing what rare dementias are, and what treatments are out there, and why it is so important to better understand what happens in different rarer forms of dementias to provide adequate care plans.

Dr Anna Volkmer is a clinical academic speech and language therapist at UCL. Anna works as a senior speech and language therapist in the Cognitive Disorders Service at the National Hospital for Neurology where she diagnoses and treats people with dementia. 

Jacqui Cannon is CEO of The Lewy Body Society and a former carer for her dad who lived with Lewy body dementia.

Dr Ríona Mc Ardle is a NIHR Advanced Fellow at Newcastle University. Her research ambition is to improve how we diagnose and care for people with dementia through novel applications of digital healthcare. She has led the largest study to date to examine patterns of gait in Lewy body disease and Alzheimer's disease using wearable technology in clinical and real-world environments. 

Follow this episode's panellists on twitter: @lbsorg, @volkmer_anna, @RionaMcArdle

S4E2 Care after a diagnosis

Good care after a diagnosis is vital - but how is care provided once someone has received a diagnosis? And what are the differences between the UK and Canada? In this episode, I am joined by Leah Rickards, Admiral Nurse, and Dr Robert Madan, Geriatric Psychiatrist.

Leah is an Admiral Nurse for the Royal British Legion. Admiral Nurses originate from Dementia UK, and if you need support, have a look at their website for more info. Leah is also active on twitter: @ericrickards

Robert is a Geriatric Psychiatrist and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Madan is the Psychiatrist-in-Chief and Deputy Chief of Staff at Baycrest, and is involved clinically in long-term care consultation, and outpatient psychiatry. His academic interests are in the areas of medical education and dementia. Robert is also the Chair of the Products and Services Committee for the International Psychogeriatrics Association.

If you want to find out more about the International Psychogeriatrics Association, and how you can join, have a look at their website here.

S4E1 What happens in the brain in dementia?

Season 4 focuses on some of the Basics of Dementia. In Episode 1, I am joined by Prof Selina Wray and we are discussing what happens in the brain when someone develops or has dementia.

Selina is a Professor of Molecular Neuroscience and Alzheimer's Research UK Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease at UCL. Selina’s work is focussed on the use of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to model dementia, working closely with clinical colleagues to obtain samples from participants with rare, genetic forms of dementia and using these to understand the molecular basis of Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia. 

Follow Selina on twitter for more updates about her research and her public engagement work, and her cat: @SelinaWray

 

 

Season 4 Teaser

Season 4 will take a look at The Basics of Dementia. Have a listen for the line up of 5 brand new episodes, relased on the 1st of March.

Season 3 Ep 3 - Staying socially active

Staying socially active, engaging with friends, family, and peers, is found to be a key to ageing well, and also reduces our chances of developing dementia. So, how can we stay socially active as we age? In this episode, I am talking to two social support providers, who are offering support services for older adults and people with dementia - Justine Shenton from the Sefton Older People's Forum and Di Burbidge from Chinese Wellbeing. 

Season 3 Ep 2 - Keep on running (or start later in life)

Being joined by two fellow keen runners in this special episode, I talk to Jacquie Millet and Dr Paula Watson from LJMU about running, exercise, and ageing well. Jacquie has only started running after retiring at 58, and is now about to embark on her 210th marathon in her late 60s! Jacquie is also a 6-Star finisher and has done the famous Comrades Marathon. Paula is a regular park runner and exercise psychologist, and highlights how we may not need to run marathons or even engage in exercise to stay physically active in old age, despite the great fun marathons can bring. 

Season 3 Ep 1 - Ageing well with Music and creativity

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Robyn Dowlen from the University of Leeds and Helena Bull from the Manchester Camerata. We discuss how music and other forms of creativity can help to age well, and should be part of all of our lives. Creativity comes in many forms, you might not know how creative you are. 

Robyn is a postdoctoral research associate and has a specialism in the ways in which engaging with arts and culture can impact on our health and wellbeing, and her PhD focussed on understanding the benefits of music for people living with dementia.

Helena is a project manager with Camerata’s Community team, working alongside musicians and various partners to coordinate a range of creative music making projects.