Department of Applied Dementia Studies, University of Bradford

08/09/2026

Celebrating our students!

We are delighted to announce that Danielle Oswald has been awarded the Davida Fortinsky Award for Outstanding Dementia Studies 2026 for her achievements on our MSc Advanced Dementia Studies.

The award recognises students who demonstrate academic excellence, independently pursue advanced knowledge in dementia care, and show a commitment to improving the lives of people living with dementia and their families.

Danielle is a Care Manager in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has used her learning throughout the MSc to make a real difference in practice.

Her MSc project explored the small, everyday interactions that happen before a person living with dementia is invited to take part in an activity. Her work highlighted how small changes in the way we communicate can support choice, build trust and encourage meaningful engagement.

The award is sponsored by Professor Richard Fortinsky in memory of his late mother, Davida Fortinsky, who lived with dementia. Professor Fortinsky and his family selected Danielle as this year’s recipient and join us in congratulating her.

👏 A huge congratulations to Danielle on this very well-deserved achievement!

07/08/2026

New blog: What happens when people living with dementia become educators?

At the Department of Applied Dementia Studies, University of Bradford, we're proud to be working with NHS England to refresh six national dementia e-learning modules.

One thing won't be changing.

From the very beginning, these modules have been co-produced with Experts by Experience, people living with dementia and their families. Their insights have helped shape not only what healthcare professionals learn, but how they learn it.

Our latest blog explores why lived experience is so important in dementia education, what we learned from evaluating the original programme, and how we're continuing to place the voices of people living with dementia at the heart of these refreshed national resources.

We'd love you to read the blog and hear why co-production continues to be at the centre of everything we do.

🔗 Read the blog here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-happens-when-people-living-dementia-become-yytcc

By Sahdia Parveen and Clare Mason "Seeing the videos with some of them with diagnosed dementia and actually thinking, I can still talk to this patient, I can still have meaningful conversation, and I can involve them in their care… it really opened my eyes to that, which was something I don't thin...

06/08/2026

We're pleased to be working with NHS England on the next phase of refreshing six national dementia e-learning modules.

Over the coming months, colleagues from the Department of Applied Dementia Studies, together with our Experts by Experience, will be updating learning on:

• Person-Centred Care
• Communication
• Pharmacological Interventions
• Health and Wellbeing
• Assessment and Diagnosis
• Dementia Risk Reduction

At the heart of this work is co-production. People living with dementia, family carers and former carers will work alongside our academic team to help ensure the learning reflects what matters most in real life, not just in theory.

We're proud to continue our long-standing partnership with NHS England to help develop education that supports compassionate, evidence-informed and person-centred dementia care.

We'll be sharing updates as the project progresses.

15/07/2026

🌟 Welcome to the first edition of the Bradford Dementia Blog!

We're excited to share the very first edition of the Bradford Dementia Blog on LinkedIn, bringing together news, stories and updates from the Department of Applied Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford.

In our monthly Blog you'll discover:
🧠 Highlights from our latest research and projects
🎓 Updates from our teaching and student community
🤝 News from our Experts by Experience - Department of Applied Dementia Studies, Bradford
📅 Recent events and achievements from across the Department

Whether you're living with dementia, supporting someone who is, working in health and social care, or simply interested in dementia research and education, we hope you'll enjoy reading it.

📖 Read the first edition here:

In May, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural International Brain Health Conference in Edinburgh alongside colleague Emmanuel Sunday Nwofe, PhD from the Department of Applied Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford. The conference brought together researchers, clinicians, policymaker

14/05/2026

Dementia Action Week

For Dementia Action Week, we are asking people to take action by listening to and learning from people with lived experience.

Come along to our Meet the Experts information stand and stalls at the University of Bradford.

You can meet people living with dementia, current and former carers, and staff from the Department of Applied Dementia Studies.

We’ll be inviting people to think about how they can:

Listen to people living with dementia and carers
Speak about dementia with kindness and respect
Challenge myths and stigma
Include people living with dementia and carers more
Find out how to get involved in dementia research, training, education and community support

There will also be books, cakes and handmade gifts available, raising funds for a local dementia charity supporting people living with young onset dementia.

Monday 18 May and Tuesday 19 May
10am to 3.30pm
Atrium, Richmond Building, University of Bradford

Please come along, have a conversation, make a pledge, and share this with anyone who may be interested.

28/04/2026

Understanding the me in dementia - learning together

Our Understanding the Me in Dementia module sits within our MSc in Advanced Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford.

The module was co-written by 22 people with dementia and 2 academics in the Centre for Applied Dementia Studies. The group developed the module from the title and learning outcomes through to the assignments, teaching exercises and activities.

The module has now been taught with Experts by Experience for the second year, and we have just completed marking together too.

In this blog, Lynne Hagan, one of our Experts by Experience, and Johan Schoeman, an MSc student, reflect on working together as part of the module.

To find out more about the module, the MSc and our other courses, email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

What does meaningful co-production actually look like in practice? Johan Schoeman (MSc student) and Lynne Hagan (Expert by Experience, living with a diagnosis of dementia) reflect on working together to co-design a poster challenging stigma for the “Understanding the Me in Dementia” MSc module.