LivEDem: Centring The Lived Experience Of Dementia Within Policy, Practice And Community Development

This international team drawn from three countries (Canada, Germany, and UK) proposes to deliver a transnational programme of in-depth social science research that will investigate how the lived experience of dementia can contribute to the policy and practice of community development. The proposed research will empower people living with dementia and unpaid carers to influence changes being made to their communities as different countries and regions rethink and reorganise public space in the aftermath of COVID and in the face of other emerging global challenges. We will address the political exclusion of people living with dementia by generating learning about the process and outcomes of their engagement in community planning and commissioning. The research will tackle social isolation through forging connections between networks of people with dementia, locally, nationally and internationally. In the longer-term we aim to redefine public awareness and understanding of dementia by demonstrating the social contribution made by people living with dementia within their communities. In so doing, the research will inform a broader agenda for addressing inequities and enhancing resilience in local communities, helping us understand how public space can be adapted and used to address marginalisation and social exclusion and will provide vital insights into the much-needed reform of community-based services and support.