Hard to reach or easy to ignore? : Involving people with dementia in research as advisers and participants

People with dementia are often described as 'hard to reach' by service providers and practitioners, as well as people in the research community, who do not know how to go about engaging them. Recently, people with dementia themselves have started speaking up through groups like DEEP (the Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project) and demonstrating that, far from being hard to reach, many people with dementia want to be heard. This is an important issue for adult social care practitioners. As people with dementia are occupying an increasing proportion of the social care caseload - how can social workers overcome communication barriers (perceived and experienced) and support people with dementia to play an active role in their own care planning, as well as wider service development and improvement? At this event you will hear from: Nada Savitch, a specialist in involving people with dementia and supporting professionals to develop more inclusive approaches to their practice. Nada helped start Alzheimer's Talking Point and Innovations in Dementia, and continues to fight to ensure that the voices of people with dementia are heard. Kate Gridley, a researcher who has successfully involved people with dementia in research and has published on this topic http://the-sra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/social-research-practice-journal-issue-03-winter-2017.pdf We will explore the challenges that involving people with dementia can present, and hear about the things that can help. There will also be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and discuss scenarios relevant to your own practice.