Alzheimer's Europe Conference

DEM-COMM was out in force at the 34th Alzheimer’s Europe conference in Geneva.

We weren’t all wearing DEM-COMM emblazoned bobble hats (next time, maybe?) but there were twenty of us, all presenting work, supporting each other, and generally making the most of being at this important annual event.

Our headline act was Dr Esther Loseto-Gerritzen from the University of Nottingham, ARC East Midlands.

Esther gave her first plenary talk: ‘Online peer support for people with young onset dementia’ in the largest auditorium I’ve ever been in; it was like the United Nations (see photo below). So very well done to Esther. We’re all proud of you and look forward to supporting you in your new role as Junior Board member and representative of the INTERDEM Academy.

Other DEM-COMM fellows shared their work in a parallel session or one of the quick oral presentations (5 minutes), or like me, presented a poster. Some people gave two or three presentations - extra brownie points to you guys. Here’s a list of all works in the order they were presented at the conference, followed by a collage of photos of each person giving their talk.

Oral presentations

• Hannah Wheat ‘Findings of the realist mixed methods, longitudinal evaluation of the D-PACT (dementia personalised care team), primary care based, post-diagnostic, dementia care model’.

• Amirah Akhtar ‘Depression and dementia risk: exploring the impact of cognitive dysfunction during recurrent depression in middle-aged British South Asians: A qualitative study.

• Orri McDermott ‘Co-working with local Caribbean communities to raise awareness and normalise talking about dementia’.

• Neil Chadborn ‘Yaad participatory project: exploring memories with South Asian Communities to understand the context of family of care for people with dementia’.

• Marie Poole ‘Understanding post-diagnostic dementia support through football organisations to provide person-centred, culturally appropriate support for underserved communities’.

• James Faraday ‘Better mealtimes for people living with dementia: working with care homes to share good practice’.

• Rasa Mikelyte ‘Inclusion from the start: co-development and application of a priority setting method for dementia care research’.

• Emma Elliot ‘Physical activity interventions for hospitalised patients with dementia: systematic review’.

• Orri McDermott ‘Lived experience of advance care planning and shared decision making’.

• Rasa Mikelyte ‘Co-designing an easy-read measure of care-related quality of life: reflections on involving people living with dementia and their supporters’.

• Megan Rose Readman ‘Understanding the experience of hearing loss for people living with lewy body or parkinson’s disease dementia.

• Emmanuel S. Nwofe ‘DEM-SAFE: co-designing information campaigns to promote brain health and reduce dementia risk in south Asian and African Caribbean communities in the UK’.

• Amirah Akhtar ‘DEM-SAFE: Living well with dementia for south Asian and African Caribbean communities in the UK’.
  

Posters

• Jiamin Du ‘Prevalence and correlates of neuro-psychiatric symptoms in individuals referred to a memory clinic, and the distress experienced by their caregivers’.

• Hannah Wheat ‘Triadic communication during dementia care: a conversation analytical study. 

• Megan Polden ‘Music Make Us! The impact of singing and dancing interventions on people living with dementia’.

• Tamara Backhouse ‘How can we improve personal care assistance for people living with dementia to reduce refusals of care? A realist synthesis

• Juanita Hoe ‘Risk Assessment in people living with dementia: a systematic review’.

• Esther Loseto-Gerritzen ‘Online peer support for people living with dementia: a scoping review’.

• Hannah Wheat ‘Supporting dementia support workers to adapt to their role within a primary care setting: what works, for whom and in what circumstances’.

• Ruth Bartlett ‘Building capacity in applied dementia research’.

• Chris Poyner ‘Personalising domiciliary dementia care via co-designed computational matching: a study protocol’.

• Ilianna Lourida ‘Data-driven discovery of associations between prescribed medication and dementia risk: a systematic review’.

• Emmanuel S. Nwofe ‘Dementia risk factors and brain health: a scoping review of interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness among minority ethnic populations in OECD countries’.

Thanks to Sarah Smith for darting around the venue to take these shots, great job!