Outputs (40)

The Chinese-Think Brain Health community intervention for dementia prevention in the UK: From theoretical cultural adaptation to evaluation (2025)
Journal Article

People from different ethnic minorities in the UK are experiencing a steeper increase in dementia diagnosis compared to their white counterparts but are more likely to have a higher risk of dementia, to be diagnosed at a younger age and to die earlie... Read More about The Chinese-Think Brain Health community intervention for dementia prevention in the UK: From theoretical cultural adaptation to evaluation.

Care companions: Co-design and adoption of the HUG soft therapeutic comforter across a health board (2025)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

HUG by LAUGH is a specialized therapeutic comforter that was co-designed for individuals with dementia, featuring weighted limbs, soft body, simulated heartbeat and built-in music player programmed with favourite songs. Extensive research and develop... Read More about Care companions: Co-design and adoption of the HUG soft therapeutic comforter across a health board.

LivDem-Families: Adapting the LivDem group intervention to support families to talk together about dementia (2025)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Attitudes to brain health and dementia amongst the Chinese population living in the UK (2025)
Journal Article

Background: Just under half a million people who identify as Chinese or Chinese-British are living in the UK. Chinese migrants have a distinctive linguistic and cultural heritage and are likely to differ from the wider UK population in their attitude... Read More about Attitudes to brain health and dementia amongst the Chinese population living in the UK.

How do family caregivers of people with advanced/complex dementia make sense of their experiences of engaging in Music Therapy alongside the person they care for? (2025)
Thesis

This multimethod, qualitative study explored the lived experiences of family caregivers when they engaged in Music Therapy (MT) alongside the person with dementia they were caring for. Six dyads (person with advanced/complex dementia and their family... Read More about How do family caregivers of people with advanced/complex dementia make sense of their experiences of engaging in Music Therapy alongside the person they care for?.

Adjustment to dementia after a diagnosis: Why we need to talk about dementia (2025)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This presentation outlines an approach to supporting adjustment to dementia after a diagnosis. This approach is based around Bill Stiles' Assimilation of Problematic Voices' model developed within psychotherapy research. This model is illustrated thr... Read More about Adjustment to dementia after a diagnosis: Why we need to talk about dementia.

“Diagnosis in the prime of your life”: Facilitator perspectives on adapting the Living Well with Dementia (LivDem) post-diagnostic course for younger adults (2025)
Journal Article

The Living Well with Dementia (LivDem) group intervention aims to support people to adjust following a diagnosis of dementia and is delivered across the UK and abroad. However, LivDem was designed for older people with dementia and may not address th... Read More about “Diagnosis in the prime of your life”: Facilitator perspectives on adapting the Living Well with Dementia (LivDem) post-diagnostic course for younger adults.

Benefits of nostalgic landmarks for people living with Alzheimer's disease (2024)
Journal Article

Background: Emerging literature shows that nostalgia induced by autobiographical reflection and music confers psychological benefits to people living with dementia. Objective: Our objective was to test the potential benefits of nostalgic landmarks fo... Read More about Benefits of nostalgic landmarks for people living with Alzheimer's disease.

“How can you think about losing your mind?”: A reflexive thematic analysis of adapting the LivDem group intervention for couples and families living with dementia (2024)
Journal Article

Introduction
Despite the psychological challenges that dementia creates, comparatively little attention has been paid to how individuals or families can be helped to adjust to dementia. One of the few interventions to do this is the Living well with... Read More about “How can you think about losing your mind?”: A reflexive thematic analysis of adapting the LivDem group intervention for couples and families living with dementia.

"How can you think about losing your mind?": A reflexive thematic analysis of adapting the LivDem group intervention for couples and families living with dementia (2024)
Journal Article

Introduction: Despite the psychological challenges that dementia creates, comparatively little attention has been paid to how individuals or families can be helped to adjust to dementia. One of the few interventions to do this is the Living well with... Read More about "How can you think about losing your mind?": A reflexive thematic analysis of adapting the LivDem group intervention for couples and families living with dementia.

“You just can’t do that in dementia care”: Barriers to partnership working within dementia services for people from South Asian communities (2024)
Journal Article

Background: People from South Asian communities are under-represented at all levels of dementia services. Consequently, there is pressure for the statutory sector to deliver services in partnership with Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterpri... Read More about “You just can’t do that in dementia care”: Barriers to partnership working within dementia services for people from South Asian communities.

Designing HUGs: Therapeutic comforters to reduce anxiety and bring joy (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Anxiety, agitation, and distress are frequently experienced by people living with the advanced stages of dementia. Finding ways to alleviate anxiety and provide soothing care was one of the imperatives of LAUGH research at Cardiff Metropolitan Univer... Read More about Designing HUGs: Therapeutic comforters to reduce anxiety and bring joy.

The LivDem 2023 survey: Facilitator views on benefits and the more active involvement of carers in the Living well with Dementia (LivDem) course (2024)
Journal Article

Introduction. The Living Well with Dementia (LivDem) intervention is an eight-week, group based post-diagnostic course for people living with dementia that aims to facilitate adjustment to the diagnosis. We set out to establish the views of course fa... Read More about The LivDem 2023 survey: Facilitator views on benefits and the more active involvement of carers in the Living well with Dementia (LivDem) course.

CURIOs for care: Designing physical prompts for research (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

As design researchers, we are drawn towards creating tangible artifacts. The CURIOs for Care project embraces this appeal of making physical artefacts as a means of inquiry and as a creative tool to invite stories about individuals' experiences with... Read More about CURIOs for care: Designing physical prompts for research.

The power of a HUG: Implementation of assistive technology across a health board (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

HUG, a soft comforter specifically designed for individuals with advanced dementia, was developed by the HUG by LAUGH team at Cardiff Metropolitan University. With weighted arms and legs, a soft body, and a simulated beating heart, HUG aims to provid... Read More about The power of a HUG: Implementation of assistive technology across a health board.

Supporting families to adjust following a dementia diagnosis: Adapting the LivDem intervention (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

“Everyone says that thinking about death is unthinkable. But I think dementia is a bit unthinkable too. How can you think about losing your mind?”​
​
A reflexive thematic analysis of adapting the LivDem model of talking about dementia for couples a... Read More about Supporting families to adjust following a dementia diagnosis: Adapting the LivDem intervention.

Acceptability of memory-aid technological devices for community-dwelling older adults with dementia to maintain quality of life (2023)
Thesis

The rising prevalence of dementia cases due to ageing population presents a global challenge. Despite different types of memory aid devices available, evidence reveal that it is not widely accepted (Thordardottir et al., 2019). The current study aime... Read More about Acceptability of memory-aid technological devices for community-dwelling older adults with dementia to maintain quality of life.

We need to talk about dementia (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Richard Cheston is a Dementia Research Professor at the University of Bristol. As a clinical psychologist with a background in group psychotherapy, he has extensive experience leading groups of people with dementia and is co-founder of the "Living We... Read More about We need to talk about dementia.

Talking openly about dementia – theory and principles (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Using assimilation to track changes in talk during a Living Well with Dementia (LivDem) group (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Background. Whilst good dementia care is typically thought of as a person-centred process, psychotherapy generally plays little role in this. One reason for this is that there are relatively few psychologists, therapists and counsellors working in de... Read More about Using assimilation to track changes in talk during a Living Well with Dementia (LivDem) group.