Showcasing dementia research in Weston-super-Mare

Our ‘Dementia Research and Me’ day proved a hit with people with dementia, their families, carers and professionals who support them.

The informal drop-in day took place in Weston-super-Mare on 20 May 2025. More than 60 people turned out for fun activities, refreshments and a chance to hear about dementia research happening locally.

NIHR ARC West Dementia Research Fellows Katie Breheny, Lis Grey and Natasha Woodstoke and Dementia Capacity Building Interns Megan Pardoe, Bradley Barker-Jones and Karin Buschenfeld organised the day, in collaboration with Alive Activities and the Bristol Health Partners Dementia Health Integration Team (HIT). Researchers based in the southwest shared what they’re doing and listened to what attendees thought research should focus on in future.

One attendee said:

“It was a brilliant day. Very well received and so positive – and great to hear so much amazing research.”

Alan Richardson kicked off the event by sharing his experience of caring for his mother when she developed dementia. He talked about his work as a volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Other contributors who talked about their fantastic research and helped make the afternoon such a success include:

• Dr Nigel Harris and Dr Mohammad Sarajchi from the Bristol Robotics Lab demonstrated their work on a smart walker to help people with dementia navigate environments, prevent falls and assist with daily tasks.
• Dr Stephen Tatlow from the University of Gloucestershire provided a beautiful demonstration of soundscapes from nature. He told us of his work looking at the effect of these soundscapes for care-home residents, who often have very limited time outdoors.
• Dr Tom Welsh from ReMind UK, based at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, spoke about the good, the bad and the unknown of brain health. His team is trying to understand how dementia can be prevented or slowed and how best we can support those affected.
• Professor Richard Cheston and Dr Natasha Woodstoke from the University of West of England (UWE) talked about the Living Well with Dementia programme, which was developed to support those recently diagnosed with the condition and has now been adapted to also support their families.
• Dr Emily Dodd, also from UWE, shared findings and a super animation from her project about the experience of dementia among those in rural and coastal areas. Often people in these areas find it hard to access dementia support services.
• The final speaker was Nansi Felton, a physiotherapist based at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. We heard about her research on falls prevention and strength training for people with dementia – this involved simple home-based exercises, no gyms required!

To break up the talks, we were lucky to have activities led by Nicola Taylor from Alive. Attendees became ‘museum detectives’ uncovering clues in famous artworks and then got hands-on with some clay printing. Katie and Lis were also delighted to showcase their research on measuring quality of life and developing technology for loneliness, respectively. Katie’s bird boxes were certainly a talking point.

Katie, Lis and Natasha are part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Dementia Community of Practice or DEM-COMM. DEM-COMM researchers are embedded in NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) across England, thanks to a £7.5 million investment from the NIHR and Alzheimer’s Society. The community works on all aspects of care and support for people with dementia and their carers.

The event was organised to mark Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Action Week on 19-25 May. It was part of DEMFEST, with 20 events organised by DEM-COMM researchers across England.

NIHR ARC Wessex leads DEM-COMM and pulled the DEMFEST programme together. Find out more on their website.