Alzheimer's Society commits almost £2million to revolutionise dementia care research

Alzheimer’s Society has announced on 20th June that it has committed almost £2million to a group of UK Universities and organisations, including Bangor University and led by the University of Exeter, as part of its biggest-ever single investment in dementia care research.

The research grant will be invested over five years and will enable expert researchers at the University of Exeter to create a ‘Centre of Excellence’. The Centre will focus on improving quality of life for people with dementia and boost the number of researchers working in the dementia care field.

Alzheimer’s Society Head of Research Development, Colin Capper, said: “Dementia is set to be the 21^st century’s biggest killer and there is currently no cure. With 850,000 people currently living with dementia, and this number only expected to rise, the need to provide good care for people with dementia is urgent. However, current care practices are not always at the standard people with dementia deserve, with people experiencing issues such as a poor quality of life.

“Today we are laying the foundations for building networks of internationally recognised researchers in dementia care in the UK. We are making major investments that will contribute a great deal towards improving care and support for people affected by dementia.”

The University of Exeter’s research grant will fund a second phase of a large-scale national study entitled Improving the Experience of Dementia and Enhancing an Active Life (IDEAL). Running since 2014, it aims to understand how to help people to live well with dementia by taking into account the experiences of people with dementia and their carers over six years.

The study involves Bangor researcher, Dr John Hindle and is an Exeter-led collaboration with the universities of Cardiff, Brunel, Newcastle and Sussex, and with King’s College London, the London School of Economics, the RICE centre in Bath and Innovations in Dementia CIC.

It comprises 1,570 people with mild-to-moderate dementia and 1,300 carers. The participants were interviewed by specialised researchers at their homes initially between 2014 and 2016 and then again after 12 and 24 months.

Along with allowing the study to run for a further three years, this funding will allow the researchers to add the experiences of people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds and people in the advanced stages of dementia. At the end of the study the researchers will use their findings to set out guidelines for how to help people affected by dementia to have the best possible quality of life.

Former Bangor academic, Professor Linda Clare, of the University of Exeter, who leads the research programme, said: “This funding allows us to lead a national collaboration to improve quality of life for people with dementia. It is vitally important that people with dementia are able to live as well as possible. The Centre of Excellence will support that urgent priority, and our research will significantly improve our understanding of what factors influence people with dementia having a good quality of life as the condition progresses. This will help us to develop strategies and initiatives that will make a real improvement for people living dementia at different stages of their condition.”

Professor Bob Woods, Director of the Dementia Services Development Centre at Bangor University, said: “We welcome this investment in research by the Alzheimer’s Society, on what helps people with dementia and their supporters to experience a better quality of life. We look forward to our continued collaboration with our former colleague, Professor Linda Clare, and the team at Exeter in taking this important work forward.” 

Keith Oliver, from Kent, was a successful headteacher when he received a shock diagnosis of early onset dementia at the age of 54. He has to give up work after several months, and has adopted a range of strategies such as meticulous diary keeping to support his busy schedule of work to raise awareness of dementia issues. Keith, who sits on the IDEAL advisory board, said: “Having this large-scale, long-term research is so important to the future of dementia care. I’m really confident that it will produce some excellent information that will feed into people’s care plans when they get a diagnosis of dementia. The more we know about dementia, the better we can support people to live well with dementia.”

Alzheimer’s Society’s unique investment will allow more researchers to address some of the most pressing issues in dementia care research and put the UK on track to be a world leader in providing the best care possible for people with dementia.

Colin Capper continued: “We are excited at the potential that the Centres of Excellence hold for improving care and hope to establish further Centres over the coming years. These Centres are an excellent example of how being united against dementia, and listening to those affected, can bring about real and lasting change through high-quality, world-leading research. It presents a unique opportunity for collaboration with health and social care providers and policy makers.”

Publication date: 29 June 2017