Dementia and Ageing Research Team (DART): research themes
The Dementia and Ageing Research Team (DART) focuses on four main areas of research.
Neighbourhoods and Dementia project
This part of the team's activities is expressed through a five-year programme grant funded by the ESRC/NIHR and part of the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge. This work commenced on 1 May 2014, with Professor John Keady as Chief Investigator.
The study involves nine co-investigator organisations, including the University of Liverpool, Lancaster University, University of Stirling and the Center for Dementia Research (CEDER) at Linköping University in Sweden. CEDER is led by Professor Lars-Christer Hydén, who has an international reputation in dementia studies.
Further details can be found on the Neighbourhoods and Dementia project website.
Biographical and narrative work
We use a range of qualitative methods to conduct our work. These include:
- visual recordings, such as photographs, digital video camera, film;
- interviews, including face-to-face, walking (outdoor spaces) and biographical interviews;
- focus groups;
- social network mapping;
- participant and non-participant observation.
These methods underpin much of our funded research and the work of PhD students attached to DART.
Lifestyle and creative arts
A recent example of our research in this area is our work on appearance biographies and dementia, carried out between April 2014 and October 2014 by grant holders Sarah Campbell, Professor Jennifer Mason and Professor John Keady.
This was funded through an ESRC Transformative Research grant and built on the outcome of the Hair and Care Project.
Education and practice
DART has established links with Manchester Camerata and evaluated the Music in Mind programme between April 2014 and October 2014 (grant holders: Sarah Campbell and Professor John Keady). See more details about Music in Mind [PDF, 407KB].
We are also involved in the NIHR HS&DR programme (2012-2015) multisite project looking at pain and dementia in acute care, with Professor José Closs from the University of Leeds as Chief Investigator.
The grant holders in the north-west are Dr Caroline Swarbrick and Professor John Keady. Lesley Jones from DART also acts as an expert consultant to the project. The team is developing a pain decision-making tool for hospital staff.
We also have a two-year research post funded by Salford Clinical Commissioning Group at the Humphrey Booth Resource Centre in Swinton, Salford. The grant holders for this are Dr Caroline Swarbrick and Professor John Keady.