All the events here are relevant to people working in dementia research. If you would like to add your own you can submit an event
Bridges Dementia Network+ Annual Conference
September 14 @ 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
The BRIDGES for Dementia Network+ is a national research initiative bringing together people with lived experience of dementia, researchers, designers, and health professionals.
Our goal is to rethink how technology can help people with dementia live full, independent, and connected lives. By combining expertise from arts, health, social care, and technology, we’ll co-design practical solutions that make a real difference to everyday life.
We would like to invite people with dementia, researchers, and representatives from different sectors to exchange their knowledge and experience to help improve the lives of those living with dementia. The conference is open to researchers, universities, industry, charities, and people with lived experience of dementia.
The conference will include updates on BRIDGES activities, interactive sessions, and technology demonstrations. We will also present opportunities to be involved in future funding calls and research.
Who this event is for:
- We would welcome members of the general public who have experience of supporting people living with dementia, or who are living with dementia themselves.
- The event is also open to researchers, healthcare practitioners, service providers, or representatives of technology companies.
Attendance is free, but our room capacity is limited to 125 people.
In addition to the main conference, we are running three parallel sessions. More details are available below.
Exhibition: We will have a number of partners who will be exhibiting their work and technology. The exhibition is an opportunity to network with members of the BRIDGES N+ who are working on technologies to improve the lives of those living with dementia.
Agenda
09:00 – 09:45 | Registration
09:45 | Welcome and introduction — Dr. Jennifer MacRitchie, BRIDGES N+ Director
10:00 | Sheffield City Council Strategy on Dementia: Our Next Steps — Jo Pass (Assistant Director, Living and Ageing Well)
10:30 | How can businesses take into account people with dementia when designing products and services? — Gordon McCullough, CEO Research Institute for Disabled Consumers
10:50 | Break and networking opportunity
11:10 | Panel discussion: The promise and pitfalls of technology and dementia
11:55 | Co-design in practice: How people with lived experience may influence the design of new technology — Roger Whitham & Joseph Lindley, University of Lancaster
12:15 | Technology presentations by companies
12:30 | Lunch and opportunity to view the exhibition
Parallel sessions from 13:30 – 15:00
We are running three parallel sessions from 13:30 – 15:00. Delegates are welcome to select one of the three to take part in.
Places are limited for the Experiential Workshop and Early Career Researcher masterclass, so places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis by emailing bridgesfordementia@sheffield.ac.uk.
- Parallel Session 1: Technical presentations by the wider research community- A series of talks will present to delegates the most recent research on different areas of technology and how they might impact the lives of people living with dementia.
- Parallel Session 2: Experiential workshop on communication- In this interactive and experiential workshop, Grace Stead from Enrichment for the Elderly will help researchers and practitioners experience how communication may be affected by dementia. Participants will learn how to communicate more effectively with people living with dementia, how to make technological solutions more inclusive and how to best include people with dementia in activities. Places are limited to 20 participants.
- Parallel Session 3: Early Career Researcher (ECR) masterclass- In this workshop chaired by Rachael Litherland from Innovations in Dementia, ECRs are invited to present their research ideas to a panel composed of people with lived experience of dementia. The panel will provide feedback on your idea from the perspective of people affected by dementia. There will be an opportunity for you to ask specific questions that you would find it useful to have a lived experience viewpoint on. The session is designed to help ECRs formulate project ideas for future funding calls. Places are limited to 5 Early Career Researchers.
15:00 | Break and networking opportunity
15:30 | Future BRIDGES research funding calls — Dr. Jennifer MacRitchie
15:45 | How to maximise the impact of your research projects — BRIDGES N+ Impact Officer
16:00 | Final comments and close.
You can register here to attend.
