Doctoral Training

Supervised by: Catherine Quinn, Gail Mountain and Elizabeth Teale

Title of project: The impact of psychological and social factors on the lived experience of ageing with physical frailty and cognitive impairment.

Start date: December 2019

Biography 

I began working with older people as a care assistant in a residential care home around 143 years ago. I worked in this role for about eight years and during this time I also undertook my first degree in psychology at the University of Bradford. I found that I was interested in the lived experiences of other people and the use of qualitative approaches to explore this. To gain further experience of such research I worked with one of my former lecturers on her work on the experiences of ageing in motherhood. I moved into research with the NHS on a number of projects based in care home, hospital and community settings. The bulk of this work was trial based, although my preference was always direct contact with older people and those who provide care. I was also involved with development of a ‘living lab’ approach to research in care homes undertaken since 2018 by Leeds University, working with staff, families and residents on priority setting and enhancing care provision. 

Aims  

The overall aim of my PhD is to explore and understand the ways in which current and past psychological and social circumstances may impact upon current health and wellbeing for older people living with coexistent physical frailty and cognitive impairment. Further aims include identification of current and best working practice for frontline community care staff.  

Title of project: Exploring and enhancing the wellbeing of direct care staff working with people with dementia in nursing homes in Singapore

Start date: September 2019

Biography:  

I am an Occupational Therapist and practice in Singapore. I enjoy working with the older population and particularly people living with dementia. This may be due to my own early family influences as I grew up with my grandparents and witnessed how dementia affected my maternal grandmother.  I have the privilege to work with families and people living with dementia during the hospital stay as well as those living at home. Their journey through dementia has always been a source of inspiration and learning, as well as a constant personal reflection to improve dementia care.  

Aims

The study aim of this study is to understand the experiences and factors influencing personal wellbeing of direct care staff assistants caring for people with dementia in nursing homes in Singapore and develop recommendations that can help in explore what can be done to better supporting the personalwellbeing of this population. 

Supervised by: Professor Jan Oyebode and Dr Sahdia Parveen

Title of project: Memory problems to complex needs: How do South Asian carers manage the transitions relating to the care of a family member with dementia.

Biography:

Mohammed is a final year PhD student with over 20 years of working with communities regarding health and social care inequalities.  He has worked with South Asian people affected by dementia for 16 years – both living with it and as family carers.  A Founder and Director of Meri Yaadain CiC (A BAME dementia Community interest Company), he was awarded an MBE for his services to people living with dementia and their cares. As a PhD student, Mohammed has sought to bring together academic learning, skills acquisition.

Aim:  

1. To develop an understanding of how South Asian families cope with transitions in the dementia-related needs of a relative with dementia – given possible influences of socio-cultural or religious factors.
    
2. To identify transitions as ‘step changes’ in levels of care needs and make recommendations that will enable effective coping strategies at the various stages.

Supervised by: Professor Jan Oyebode and Dr Sahdia Parveen

Title of project: Exploring cultural understandings of Dementia, using the self-regulatory model.

Start date: February 2018

Biography

Prior to starting my PhD journey at the Centre for Applied dementia studies in 2018 I had been voluntarily researching in the field of dementia. I hold a MSc in Health Psychology from Aston University and a BSc (hons) in Psychology from the University of Bradford. I am qualified further education lecturer and have been teaching both the subjects of Health & Social Care and Psychology. I aim to complete my doctorate by Spring 2022 with the aim to improve inclusion and diversity in dementia support.

Aims

To understand perceptions of dementia, coping, attitudes to services and use of services, from the viewpoint of minority ethnic families, including the person with dementia and to undertake a parallel study with people from a white British background to enable comparison of themes from the majority and minority ethnic populations. 

To then co-design a theoretically based culturally sensitive intervention to foster understanding of dementia and adaptive coping.

Supervisors: Dr Danielle Jones and Professor Peter Gardner  

Title of project: Exploring Simulation-based dementia education 

Biography: Since the outset of my career, I have worked within the domain of health and social care gaining experience caring for the older adult.  I later progressed my studies to become a Registered Nurse (Adult Field) with my clinical experience moving to emergency nursing.  I am also a health professional educator and a registered teacher with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.  Currently I work at the University of Bradford as an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, where I have been for the last four years.  I lead on the delivery Clinical Skills and Simulation-based Education for the School.

Aims of their study: 

My study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Simulation-based education as a pedagogy to enhance the content and delivery of dementia education and training.  Any devised educational materials will be co-designed with people living with dementia. 

• Title of project:  Stigmatisation of dementia in South Africa - a sobering reality? 

• Start date: February 2022 

Biography 

 My background is in education. I spent fifteen years as a secondary school teacher and three years as a health and social care lecturer at a FE college. Upon transitioning to health and social care 17 years ago, I developed a passion for working with older people, and more specifically those living with dementia. Since making my career change, I’ve worked as a carer, assessor, training consultant, operations manager and company director. Each role has given me a different vantage point of how the support of people living with dementia is undertaken. I hold a MSc in Dementia Studies, obtained from the University of Bradford and was involved in a recent study at the university which looked at the effects of the pandemic on care homes, which yielded great outputs. I am the director of two companies; one in the UK and one in South Africa (my country of birth) and recently co-founded a charity dedicated to reduce the impact of dementia in the UK and South Africa. As an entrepreneur, I am involved in the university’s entrepreneurship programme.  

Aims 

The aims of this study are to investigate what role stigma plays, as a determinant of non-inclusive practices, in the lives of people living with dementia – and more specifically in the South African context and what impact this has on their wellbeing, including their mental health. 

Supervised by: Dr Ana Barbosa, Dr Lindsey Collins and Professor Siobhan Reilly

Start date: June 2021

Biography:

With a Master’s in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Cognitive-Behavioural Integrative Psychotherapy, I am enthusiastic for mental health and neuropsychological research, with interests in dementia, well-being, and psychosocial factors for healthy cognitive ageing. 

Aims:

Main scope “Implementation issues of Dementia Care Mapping”