What we achieved during our Writing Retreat

How our retreat typically works

Before the retreat, we set clear goals, such as drafting a book chapter, writing an article, or preparing a grant proposal. Once the retreat begins, we come together in person for focused, uninterrupted writing sessions.

During breaks we reflect on progress and share insights. We lunch together which offers a chance to connect and exchange ideas. At the end, we review and celebrate our accomplishments together. Our writing retreats are typically held at the University. When possible, we also retreat to a peaceful countryside venue, providing the perfect setting for creativity and focus!

What we did in 2024

This year’s retreat was a remarkable success. We worked on a wide range of outputs, from project proposals and journal articles to grant applications and conference presentations. Here are some of the highlights that our team accomplished.

Maria Caulfield

Maria is a research fellow in the Centre working within the NIHR Dementia and Neurodegeneration Policy research unit. Maria focused on developing a project proposal for the NIHR Three Schools – Dementia Career Development Awards. Her application centers on building capabilities in realist evaluation and implementation science. Both are critical for advancing our understanding of dementia care interventions.

Helen Young

Helen is a research assistant in the Centre. She is working on the DYNAMIC project, which involves engaging with stakeholders through workshops. During the retreat, she concentrated on synthesising information from the most recent workshop, aiming to identify 2-3 key research priorities. This will inform the next phase of the project, which includes conducting a scoping review.

Amirah Akhtar

Amirah is an NIHR postdoctoral researcher based in the Centre. She dedicated her time to planning a public engagement project funded by the ARUK Inspire grant. By the end of the retreat, she had a clear outline of the project. Which aims to engage the public in dementia research and raise awareness about the condition.

Felicity Slocombe

Felicity is a lecturer in the team teaching on the Advanced Dementia Studies programme. She spent her time at the retreat working on several academic tasks. She submitted an abstract for a special issue of the journal Sociology of Health and Illness, co-authored with Elizabeth Peel and Saul Albert from Loughborough University, and Alison Pilnick from Manchester Metropolitan Universities. Her abstract, titled “Providing hope or assigning blame? Persistent healthism in portrayals of dementia risk and responsibility,” draws on her PhD research and Robert Crawford’s work on healthism. The abstract has since been accepted and should be published in Summer or Autumn 2025.

Felicity also began drafting a paper for Patient Education and Counselling on the structural organisation of testing people with dementia in different contexts. She is working on this paper with Danielle Jones (University of Bradford), Joe Webb (University of Bristol) and Peter Muntigl (Ghent University).

Ian Davies-Abbott

Ian is an assistant professor in the Centre. He used the first day of the retreat to write two important conference presentations: one focusing on improving healthcare documentation to influence the delivery of person-centred care and using Appreciative Inquiry to co-create an anti-stigma tool with people living with dementia.

He then spent the following two days drafting a paper for a qualitative health research journal. This paper introduces a novel visual approach to understanding how stigma about people living with dementia was reduced following the use of an anti-stigma film.

Clare Mason

Clare is an assistant professor in the team and leads the Experts by Experience group. Clare drafted two funding proposals during the retreat. An application for the prestigious Churchill Fellowship. and a collaborative paper with Ana Barbosa on health education, which will soon be submitted for publication.

Jan Oyebode

Jan is a Professor of dementia care. Jan spent her time reading and editing chapters for the Diversity and Dementia book, co-authored with Sahdia Parveen. Although the book isn’t finished yet, the retreat offered valuable dedicated time to move it closer to completion. Watch this space for a publication coming soon!

Lindsey Collins

Lindsey is an associate professor in the team and focused on preparing an application for a NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) call. She also made significant progress on her keynote presentation for the first-ever Dementia Care Mapping conference.

Ana Barbosa

Ana is an assistant professor in the Centre. Ana had a productive retreat, drafting a paper for BMC Geriatrics based on work with Cambridge Vision Technology. She also completed a poster and presentation for the 2024 Alzheimer’s Europe Conference. This showcased her work on educating radiography students about dementia care and its impact on their knowledge and attitudes. This work was co-authored by Danielle Jones, Clare Mason and radiographers in the School for Allied Health Professions and Midwifery, within the Faculty of Health.

Danielle Jones

Danielle is an associate professor in the team, she spent part of the retreat working on a bid to the Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) on paramedic care for people with dementia.

She also drafted a paper for a special issue in Patient Education and Counselling focusing on how dementia risk is discussed in clinical encounters, a topic that ties into her broader research on risk communication in dementia care and an output from her CoRD Study.

Final Thoughts

Our 2024 writing retreat was an inspiring and productive time. From drafting papers and proposals to completing presentations and preparing grant applications, our team made significant strides in advancing the Centre’s research and educational goals. This focused time is invaluable, and we look forward to seeing these projects develop further and ultimately contribute to better care and understanding for people living with dementia.

Learn more about the Centre for Applied Dementia Studies and keep up with our blog for exciting new research and publications coming soon.