From 2009-2012, I studied Psychology (BSc) at Northumbria University. Following my degree, I worked in a care home in East Yorkshire on the Elderly Mentally Infirm Unit as a care assistant. It was here that I discovered my interest in dementia and helping people living with this condition.

I received my first research post in December 2012 and moved to Buckinghamshire to be a research assistant for the Thames Valley Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network (DeNDRoN). I was trained in a variety of dementia assessments and worked across the portfolio of dementia studies. I recruited participants to studies, obtained informed consent and carried out assessments and study procedures as per study protocols.

From there, I was recruited to the Southern Health Research & Development department in Hampshire as a research facilitator in November 2013. This role included recruitment, consent and carrying out study procedures but equally supporting researchers to complete grant proposals, ethics procedures and setting up Southern Health as a research site for a variety of mainly dementia research studies. Within this post, I also worked alongside the Memory Assessment & Research Centre (MARC) where I assisted on clinical drugs trials for dementia under Professor Clive Holmes and the MARC team.

In September 2015, I was awarded a full studentship for MPhil/PhD study at the University of Southampton as part of the Alzheimer’s Society funded Doctoral Training Centre for Dementia Care. My study is looking at how sons and daughters perceive and manage risk for their parents with dementia through qualitative research methods.

The aim of my study is to provide better, tailored support specifically to sons and daughters of parents with dementia in relation to risk and safety.

Research interests

My interests are in perceptions of risk in relation to risk society theory (Beck), Governmentality (Foucault) and promoting risk enablement for people living with dementia.

I also have a keen interest in how gaming technology can be used to support people with dementia and their families to continue to live well.

I am also interested in the use of internet data as research data, specifically weblogs but also other platforms of social media.

Also, I am interested in new innovative ways of supporting people with dementia to remain active and engaged within their local community through music and arts.

Voluntary roles

Alongside my PhD, I volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Society local music group in Romsey, Hampshire under Andrew Knights and the Alzheimer’s Society team.

I am also a committee member of the Romsey Dementia Action Group (RomDAG – www.romdag.co.uk) where our vision is to promote understanding and awareness of dementia across our local community. We support and host many activity groups for people with dementia and produce a yearly dementia festival (Demfest) for people living with dementia. Demfest is an event full of music, activities, education and local services with the aim of raising awareness and supporting people with dementia. We also provide Dementia Friends sessions as Dementia Friends Champions and have launched the Safe Place Initiative in conjunction with other services where local businesses are trained to provide a safe area for people with mental and physical health conditions to go if they are feeling lost or vulnerable.

I am a Dementia Friend & Dementia Friends Champion meaning I can provide free, interactive Dementia awareness sessions to the public and support them to have more understanding of what it means to live with dementia.