Dementia Services Development Centre

Why should I take part?

People want to take part in health or social care research for many reasons:

To improve health and social care for others, as well as giving hope for future generations.
To learn more about their condition.
To try a new treatment, therapy or device.
To help researchers learn important new information.
To inform the development of health and social care policies.
(Source: The National Institute for Health Research)

To discuss opportunities for getting involved, please contact dsdc@bangor.ac.uk, 01248 383050

Co-design & development of an online Peer Support Programme for Young Dementia Carers

What do we want to achieve?
We want to develop an online Peer Support Programme for Young Dementia Carers (YDCs) that is focussed on their needs so that it can help to support their well-being and encourage them to ask for help. To do this we want to work with them but also their parents/guardians and professionals.

Who can take part?
We are inviting:

• Young people between the ages of 11 and 16 who are currently caring or have past experience of caring for a parent/guardian/family member living with dementia.
• Their parents/guardians.
• Professionals who, as part of their role, have regular contact with people living with dementia and their families and/or young carers.

To find out more, please:

• Watch the video below
• Contact Dr Jen Roberts: j.roberts@bangor.ac.uk 

Video: Co-developing peer support for young dementia carers

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People living with dementia and their family carers have been meeting students and researchers at Bangor University as the “Caban group” since 2017.

The Caban group work closely with the academic staff and students at the School of Health Sciences and the North Wales Medical School to help undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers understand what is important to people living with dementia, and how best to support them.

Members have also educated the current and future health and social care workforce through awareness sessions, consultations and presentations in small groups, training events and conferences. They have also performed dementia audits for public spaces such as the National Slate Museum, sharing their experiences of a place to guide improvements.

Current members say:

“Bangor University have been lifesavers, I do training sessions for the students and it feels like I’m making a difference. Feeling valued and like you’re contributing is really important for maintaining mental health and well-being”.

“I was a bit dubious at first but found out that I enjoyed getting involved in research and it is something I can do. I felt absolutely valued again and actually felt like I was contributing to society again”.

What could I do if I join?

• Join conversations with students or researchers.
• Help create resources for other people with dementia.
• Sessions can be in Bangor or on-line.
• You choose how much you want to be involved and in which way.
• Expenses are paid.

Everyone’s diagnosis and experience of living with dementia is different. Our students and researchers would like to learn from your experiences to improve our understanding of how to support you to live as well as possible with dementia.

Please contact Jen Roberts for an informal chat:

• Tel: +44 1248 388346
• e-mail: j.roberts@bangor.ac.uk

ENabling Research In Care Homes (ENRICH) Cymru is hosted by Health and Care Research Wales and is a pan-Wales research network of care homes supporting the delivery and facilitation of high-quality research tackling current issues in the care home sector.

The network promotes the exchange of ideas and knowledge and fosters the co-creation of research across the country by bringing together care home staff, residents and their families with researchers.

There is a place in the network for all interested care homes to join, whether you just want to be kept up to date with the latest developments in research or if you are ready to help in delivering research in your home.

Members of ENRICH Cymru network receive:

• Regular updates about upcoming research opportunities in Wales and the latest developments in care home research and development across the UK
• Access to free online training
• Advice and support on overcoming the challenges in delivering research in care homes
• Support with the identification of care homes and residents to support studies

For further information please visit the ENRICH Cymru website

We are proud to be part of PAAR-Net: Participatory Approaches with Older Adults, an international research network supported by COST Action (CA22167) and coordinated by Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

PAAR-Net is dedicated to rethinking how older adults are involved in research, policymaking, and practice. The project promotes a vision of science that is inclusive, collaborative, and people-centered—science for the people, by the people.

By encouraging participatory approaches with older adults, PAAR-Net aims to make ageing societies more fair, inclusive, and sustainable. Involving older adults directly helps ensure that policies, research, and services reflect their real needs, experiences, and hopes. This leads to more effective outcomes and promotes social justice and equity for older adults across different cultures and countries.

The main goal of PAAR-Net is to close the gap between academic research and real-world policymaking by promoting co-produced knowledge with older adults. 

The network includes over 400 researchers from more than 40 countries, working together to:

• Host international events, including training schools and knowledge exchange meetings;
• Support short-term scientific visits;
• Award grants for independent research and conference participation;
• Produce scientific publications, policy briefs, and materials co-created with older adults.
   

PAAR-Net’s work is organised into four key focus areas:

• Health, Care & Support;
• Community & Place;
• Technology & Innovation;
• Synthesis & Quality Standards for Participatory Research.

The initiative also includes a Young Researchers and Innovators Forum and an Older Co-Creators Group, ensuring strong involvement from both emerging scholars and older adults themselves.

Researchers, practitioners, and professionals with relevant expertise are welcome to join PAAR-Net. If your work relates to participatory approaches and any of the project’s focus areas, we encourage you to get involved.

For more details and to learn how to join, visit the official PAAR-Net project website

#SCIL is a connecting hub of people from diverse backgrounds, working together because of their shared interest in creating transformative environments, developing collaborations and stimulating innovation to make a positive difference for people connected to social care

About #SCIL… 

The #SCIL idea was devised by Steven Baker several years ago in recognition that novel solutions are needed for the puzzles in social care that we’ve been talking about for decades. Why a lab? Laboratories are places for exploration, that are separate to everyday life and so provide a safe place to focus on deepening knowledge and understanding.  

Steven Baker said in August 2018: "Throughout my career I’ve observed people working together, mostly from the position of their roles. Roles such as social workers or service users… AND… sometimes, I’ve seen people working on important topics together because it matters to them… Creating the truly transformational breakthroughs that make the difference!"

Recognising complexity
#SCIL is underpinned by insights from Weaver (1948) who suggests that we should “stop thinking of science in terms of its spectacular successes in solving problems of simplicity” and instead focus on finding solutions to the complex problems that people experience.

Knowledge exchange and transformative ideas 
#SCIL believes that transformative ideas can come from bringing together people from diverse perspectives in a supportive actual or virtual space and enabling them to have the freedom to talk and think together as individuals. #SCILs enable people to exchange ideas, experience and evidence. It’s a simple concept, but rarely offered: 
•    It’s not standard to ask the same question to lots of people who all see a topic from different perspectives.
•    It’s unusual for all these people to have the opportunity to think together.    

Safe spaces for thinking together
There is no ‘typical’ #SCIL because each lab is planned to meet the needs of the situation. We have held #SCILs in-person and virtually. Every #SCIL lab offers a safe and comfortable space within which to share ideas and understandings.

Our Vision

#SCIL is an organisation of people seeking novel solutions to familiar social care problems. Our Aims:

Involving
Meaningful connections and candid discussions – every person matters

Innovating
Safe and separate spaces for testing ideas – innovation through experimentation

Improving
Generating evidence and the confidence to use science in social care – we make a positive difference 
 

Keep in touch: 

Diane Seddon (Bangor University; Reader and Social Care Research Lead): d.seddon@bangor.ac.uk / 01248 388220

Gill Toms (Bangor University; Research and Development Officer, Wales School for Social Care Research): g.toms@bangor.ac.uk / 01248 388463


#SCIL was co-hosted by the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR) and the Wales School for Social Care Research (WSSCR), who worked together to provide essential research infrastructure support, develop critical research strengths and collaborations and promote the better integration of research, policy and practice.