Psychosocial interventions for dementia – Interdem Academy summer school 2016

Becky Field (Researcher, PhD Student and Occupational Therapist) attended the Interdem Academy summer school in Nottingham (4-8 July 2016).  

The INTERDEM Academy is part of the PRIDE project (PRomoting Independence in Dementia), funded by the NIHR/ ESRC (Ref ES/L001802/1WP5). The INTERDEM Academy has been created for the career development and capacity building of researchers in this area of psychosocial interventions and timely diagnosis in people with dementia, and supports the pathway to senior academic posts in the field.

The focus of this summer school was’ multidisciplinary perspectives on dementia’. Some personal highlights were meeting the other delegates, early career researchers and PhD students from across Europe, and learning about the variety of projects - both those focused on for people living in the community and those who live in different kinds of residential care. Dr Rebecca Allen’s talk ‘Enhancing therapeutic effectiveness’, based on her work in the USA, offered models and strategies for working therapeutically. A workshop with Dr Melanie Ferguson’s workshop on ‘Hearing, communication and dementia’ helped me further understand the need to take into account the impact of hearing loss on people living with dementia and carers, and how the impact of hearing on dementia and vice versa is still not well understood.  Also having to present an ‘elevator pitch’ on my PhD research in less than two minutes was also a useful challenge!

Interdem is a pan-European network of researchers collaborating in research on and dissemination of early, timely and quality psychosocial interventions in Dementia aimed at improving the quality of life of people with dementia and their supporters, across Europe.