Karen has over 40 years’ experience in dementia care in a variety of settings and contexts. For the past twelve years she has worked with Dementia UK and Admiral Nursing, and is now the Head of Research and Publications. She gained a PhD at University College London focusing on advance care planning and end-of-life care in dementia. She holds honorary academic positions at the Universities of Nottingham, Liverpool and De Montfort, Leicester.
I feel very lucky in my work at times as I get to do things that I never expected to come my way. As a charity Dementia UK are often asked to review films, novels, TV scripts, etc., where there…
Thanks for the memories! Read More »
One in three of us will develop dementia, but if we are not one of these, most of us will be aware of or know someone with dementia, whether that is a family member, a neighbour or a friend. Despite
We should not be surprised that the experience of dementia is starting to be portrayed in many of the visual arts; film, TV, novels and theatre. This is perhaps inevitable given that statistically dementia has a high prevalence and incidence
Dementia portrayed in film: the case of ‘The Father’ Read More »
I first became conscious of the concept of planning ahead for the end-of-life in the early 1990’s when I became a community psychiatric nurse (CPN) supporting families affected by dementia. Over my 6 years as a CPN I was involved
Do we all have an advance care plan? Read More »
A significant aspect of the work of the charity is in Increasing the general public’s understanding of the experience of what it is like to live with dementia; whether this is from the perspective of the person with the diagnosis,
Story telling – people with dementia, relationships and animals. Read More »
Dementia is now the commonest cause of death in the UK, with an expected 220,000 annual deaths expected by 2040 either with or from dementia. There is no effective treatment or cure for dementia but, despite this, many clinicians involved
Advance care planning through the COVID lens Read More »
The term ‘underserved populations’ is used frequently at the moment in relation to certain groups of people affected by dementia. But what do we actually mean when we talk of an underserved population? The main issue is about the challenge of
Fair-weather rhetoric? Read More »
Care pathways have become a ubiquitous term in health and social care. A care pathway is defined as a complex intervention for the mutual decision-making and organisation of care processes for a well-defined group of patients during a well-defined period.
A pathway for dementia care or the fictional yellow brick road? Read More »
I have worked in the field of dementia care for some forty years and consider myself to have a passion for improving the quality of care families affected by dementia receive. In more recent years my career took a slightly
More power together? Read More »
There will be large numbers of people with dementia as the population continues to age. Dementia is a progressive, irreversible neurodegenerative condition that greatly reduces life with one in three of the population expected to die with or from dementia.
Is dementia homeless? Read More »