January 2017 Bringing it all back home - Re-imagining dementia care in Ireland

The official opening of the newly established Centre for Economic and Social Research on Dementia at NUI Galway takes place on Tuesday, 31 January. Professor Eamon O’Shea, Director of the new centre, which is funded by the Health Research Board, will give an inaugural lecture entitled Bringing it all back home - Re-imagining Dementia Care in Ireland.

The Centre for Economic and Social Research on Dementia has been funded through a €1.6 million award from the Health Research Board. The vision is to provide transformative research and policy frameworks that will support personhood within dementia care through an integrated, holistic and person-centred approach to resource allocation for people with dementia.

The Centre’s research programme will investigate optimal, person-centred pathways to care, and placement for people on the margins of home care and residential care.

“We want to examine the economic, social and emotional costs of caring for people with dementia, with a particular emphasis on non-pharmacological approaches”, explains Professor O’Shea. “We also want to fully explore the concept of personhood in dementia, which in essence means treating the person with dementia as a person in the first instance. Unfortunately, people with dementia have long experienced instances and behaviours which have denied their personhood, for example being ignored, disrespected or not treated with dignity.”

“The centre is committed to a partnership approach with all dementia stakeholders, particularly with people with dementia and their carers,” said Professor O’Shea.

In addition, the Centre for Economic and Social Research on Dementia will focus on the implementation of the National Dementia Strategy. It will also promote and build capacity in economic and social research on dementia, develop the next generation of research leaders in the area, and engage directly with health policy makers and practitioners.

The Centre’s mission is to:

• Support economic and social research on dementia in Ireland.
• Develop and facilitate new thinking on dementia in Ireland that focuses on personhood within dementia.
• Develop research capacity and facilitate collaboration and networking opportunities in relation to social research on dementia.
• Provide the research framework for critical appraisal of the implementation of the National Dementia Strategy in Ireland.
• Include people with dementia and their informal carers in the research process.

The work will be hosted at the Institute for Lifecourse and Society at NUI Galway and will complement the University’s existing investment in social gerontology and health economics.

The lecture will take place in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society Building, NUI Galway at 5pm.  For more info email cesrd@nuigalway.ie or phone 091 495461 or follow @CESRD_NUIG

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