Marianne Cranwell
Name:
Marianne Cranwell
Job title:
PhD Student
Place of work / study:
School of Education and Social Work & School of Health Sciences, University of Dundee [1]
Area of Research:
My PhD research is a qualitative longitudinal project that explores the experiences of co-habiting informal carers of people living with dementia when homecare begins. I am interested in people’s experiences of transition particularly in social care and the community, and have broad interests in ageing and qualitative research methods.
How is your work funded?
Through an ESRC PhD studentship
Tell us a little about yourself:
I live with my two children in Scotland. My background was in social care, working with people who have long term conditions, severe and enduring mental illness and dementia, and now I work part-time on my PhD whilst taking on research assistant work where I can.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I absolutely adore Tove Jansson’s Moomin book series and would recommend everyone read at least one of the novels. Especially grown-ups.
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
During my time working in social care, I met a number of families who were living with dementia. It struck me that a lot of emphasis was put on service provision, and on the person living with dementia, but much less attention was paid to people who were already supporting that person. I wanted to learn more about carer experiences of caring for someone with dementia, and of accessing social care, because I felt like we were missing an essential part of the jigsaw in terms of support and services.
What single piece of advice would you give to an early career researcher?
This, too, shall pass – nothing lasts forever or is the end of the world.
What book are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
‘A Map of Days’ (part of the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Series), by Ransom Riggs [2]. Despite being a book series aimed at young adults, I have really enjoyed the story so far – light relief from heavy PhD reading, and actually just an intriguing tale.