Research suggests that military personnel and veterans are at a higher risk of developing dementia, due to their increased exposure to potential risk factors such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A project led by Bournemouth University has been working with veterans with dementia to learn more about their experiences and the challenges they face and identify future research and support priorities.
Attendees at the veterans with dementia stakeholder eventVeterans with dementia and their carers across Dorset attended a series of creative workshops and took part in activities including cooking, drumming, theatre and music.
During the workshops, the group were also invited to speak about their time in the military and their experiences of living with dementia.
The project has been funded by Dementia Research UK and led by members of the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) and Nursing Sciences department at Bournemouth University, in collaboration with Vikki Tweedy, Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Dementia/Frailty) at Dorset County Hospital.
“This project is based on a collaborative approach and by working with veterans and stakeholders we aimed to identify priority areas for future research and raise awareness, working together to identify the unique experiences and challenges of a veteran living with dementia,” said Dr Michele Board, Co-Lead of the ADRC and principal investigator for the project.
“Key to our project is giving the veterans living with dementia a voice and making the creative workshops fun and enjoyable for all, but with an underlying important goal to help this community.”
A short documentary was produced during the workshops, featuring interviews with veterans with dementia and their carers.
Discussions as part of the stakeholder eventThe documentary was shared at a stakeholder event, which brought together attendees from a range of health, care, and veterans’ organisations – along with the veterans and their carers who had participated in the project - to discuss how best to support veterans with dementia.
“It was beneficial for key stakeholders to gather together in person, as everyone had a shared goal and was able to connect with others to bring together different ideas on how to contribute and help this community,” said Rebecca Dew, Research Assistant on the project.
“We hope that they were able to take the information shared back to their organisations to work together and raise awareness for this project and topic.”
Ashleigh Boreham, Deputy Chief Officer for Strategy and Innovation, NHS Dorset and himself a veteran, was one of the attendees at the stakeholder event.
He said: “It’s a great opportunity to network and join people up, as well as learn from the veterans’ and their carers’ lived experience, which is so important.”
Louise, a carer for her partner Bruce, who is a veteran with dementia, was also at the event. She said: “It’s been good to talk to everyone. They [veterans with dementia] need need help, they need services, they need to know where to go – and I need to know who’s going to help me.”
To find out more about the project, please visit the project webpage.
