Living With Dementia: Rural Issues & Solutions FREE

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Course Category: Health and Wellbeing

price

FREE

course description

Dementia is increasingly significant to the daily lives of rural people. It mainly affects those over 65 and, given increasingly elderly populations in the countryside, will make a significant impact on people living in the countryside. Rural and farming communities face significant challenges, including how to:

  •     support growing numbers of people living with dementia
  •     overcome isolation in the provision of services
  •     encourage communities to support those with dementia
  •     run farm business when farmers or their families have dementia.

aims and objectives

This workshop offers a chance to learn from current research on rural dementia and to work with researchers to identify solutions to these issues. The aims of the workshop are to:

  •     present findings from recent work on rural dementia (see below)
  •     work with practitioners to identify solutions
  •     consider how to improve working practices to care and support those living with dementia.

We invite practitioners, policy makers and people living with dementia to attend this meeting and share their experiences and advice on dementia, the countryside and good working practices.

The research

Geographers and researchers working at the University of Plymouth have contributed to a growing base of evidence on the impacts and issues of dementia in rural places. Dr Claire Kelly and Professor Richard Yarwood conducted a year-long study into the impacts of dementia on farming families in Devon. They were supported by Ian Sherriff (Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at the University and Chair of the Prime Minister’s Rural Dementia Friendly Task and Finish Group) and Joanne Jones of the Farming Community Network.

The work received widespread coverage in the media, including reports on Countryfile and BBC Breakfast. Findings from the work went on to inform the ‘Dementia-friendly Rural Communities’ guide published by the Alzheimer's Society in May.

The research identified four areas of concern:

1.   the farm environment, which posed dangers for those living with dementia;

2.   a reluctance to ask for help or plan for the future;

3.   isolation from support services, and
4.   the changing nature rural communities.

about your tutor

Professor Richard Yarwood

Richard is a Professor in Human Geography with teaching and research interests in social and rural geography. He is the programme leader for the MSc Human Geography Research and a pathway lead for Human Geography in the ESRC’s South West Doctoral Training Partnership.

In the past three years, Richard's work has advanced knowledge and understanding in four key areas of human geography:

  •     Citizenship - developing the concept of citizenship to geography and exploring the relationship between the voluntary sector and different urban and rural places
  •     Spatialities of policing/emergencies - contributing to work on the geographies of policing
  •     Military geographies - studies on veterans, military families and the representation of the military through models
  •     Rurality society and nature - ongoing work on dementia contributing to the theorisation of rural citizenship and the development of policy.

Dr Claire Kelly

Claire holds an MRes in Sustainable Environmental Management and a PhD in Geography, focusing on the effectiveness of public/private sector partnerships within the complex and fragmented policy environment of the coastal zone.

She currently works as a Research Fellow on a range of human geography-based projects in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. As a social scientist and a geographer, Claire’s research interests focus on people and their relationships to place across a range of contexts. Specifically, her interests span social capital, resilience, stakeholder engagement and partnership working, governance and participation, and qualitative research method development.

Outside the University, Claire has extensive experience of engagement with communities through various development projects, and on a personal level as a long-term volunteer in a project in her own rural community.

Ian Sherriff

Ian is the Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at the University of Plymouth. He is a founder member of the University's Dementia Group whose research to date includes “Early Diagnosis of Dementia in Plymouth” Dementia Quality Mark for Residential care, Evaluation of day opportunities provided by the Voluntary and Private sector for individuals with dementia and their carers, evaluation of residential care in Torbay 2015.

Ian is a member of the Prime Minister's Dementia Friendly Communities Challenge Group 2015/16/17/18; his role on this group is chair of the South and South West of England. Ian is the chair of the Prime Minister's Task and Finish group for Rural Dementia 2015/16/17/18. He is the driving force behind the six successful Plymouth International Dementia Conferences.

Ian is also in great demand as a keynote speaker at national and International conferences on dementia.