At our January Forum, we will hear from University of Bradford dementia researchers Drs Kathryn Lord and Sahdia Parveen about different aspects of dementia care. Dr Kathryn Lord, senior research fellow, will be talking about developing and delivering online dementia training for home care workers, based on NIDUS (‘New Interventions for Independence in Dementia Study’). Most people with dementia want to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible. One way this can be done is through visits by paid home carers. The Alzheimer’s Society-funded NIDUS programme developed and tested evidence-based training and support to help family (NIDUS-family) and paid home carers (NIDUS-professional) to provide high quality care to people living with dementia.

Dr Sahdia Parveen, senior research fellow, will talk about improving the dementia care pathway for minority ethnic groups. The prevalence of dementia is expected to increase at a greater rate for minority ethnic groups than the corresponding white British population. However, little is known about how willing and prepared individuals are to provide care. Additionally, health care professionals often assume that south Asian families are obligated to ‘look after their own’. The aim of the Caregiving HOPE study is to explore how a sense of obligation, willingness, and preparedness influence south Asian and white British carers’ wellbeing. A questionnaire was completed by 518 white British and 186 British south Asian family carers exploring cultural obligation, willingness to care, preparedness, carer gains, burden and anxiety and depression. In her talk, Dr Parveen will be sharing findings of the study.

There will be plenty of time for questions after both talks.