Dementia research earns prestigious international award for academic
Friday 2 February 2018
AN ACADEMIC has received an international award for his research into how neighbourhoods affect people living with dementia.
Dr Andrew Clark from the University of Salford’s School of Health and Society and the Institute for Dementia has collected a European Foundations’ Initiative on Dementia 2017 Award in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Dr Clark was among 11 others honoured with the award selected from a field of 90 – each award winner receiving 9,000 euro to further their work.
The European-wide award focuses on projects that value the voice of people living with dementia and was awarded in recognition of his work in a ground-breaking Neighbourhoods and Dementia collaborative research project funded by the ESRC and NIHR.
Neighbourhood life for people with dementia
The study, run over five years, is exploring neighbourhood life for people living with dementia and their families. It was one of the first and most comprehensive studies to be undertaken, collecting information through a range of audio, visual and sensory methods.
I am proud to receive this award which recognises the importance of the research and in particular the way our research is prioritising the voices of people living with dementia in all aspects of the work
The awards evening took place following a series of workshops with people and organisations seeking to improve the lives of people living with dementia across Europe.
Professor Anthea Innes, Director of the Salford Institute for Dementia facilitated one of these workshops for previous and current recipients of these prestigious awards and was also a member of the 2017 EFID jury and keynote speaker at the conference preceding the awards ceremony.
44 million people with dementia
Professor Innes said: “There are currently 44 million people in the world living with dementia, and by 2050 this number is set to treble to 135 million. Recent estimates suggesting that dementia currently affects 850,000 people living in the UK.
“Many of these will be living independently in neighbourhoods and communities, with the support of family, friends, neighbours and formal and informal service provides. Understand the nature of support available in neighbourhood settings is crucial to ensuring everyone affected by dementia is able to live life as best they can.”
Dr Clark said: “I am proud to receive this award which recognises the importance of the research and in particular the way our research is prioritising the voices of people living with dementia in all aspects of the work.
“We are now working with a group of people living with dementia to develop an innovative, creative and impactful dissemination programme. This includes working with artists to develop visual materials and also to host exhibitions to promote the work in collaboration with people living with the condition.”
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