Building the Future of Dementia Research: Enhancing Skills in Intervention Development, Collaboration, and Fellowship Preparation

Dementia is a global health priority. Physical mobility issues are common in dementia, increasing risk of falls, functional loss, disability and death. Mobility support for people with dementia is overlooked in healthcare. Digital technologies offer a solution through proactive self-management abilities. I aim to develop into a future dementia research leader and grow the profile of the important but under-served research area of mobility loss and support in dementia, through four objectives. Firstly, I will establish collaborative networks with academics in digital health, mobility interventions and dementia research across the Three Schools and complementary NIHR infrastructures, visits to relevant research leaders, and international meetings/conferences. Secondly, I will develop my research capacity in mixed-methods research, coproduction methods and complex intervention development via specialised training courses and visiting expert research groups. Thirdly, I will develop a Patient and Practitioner Network. Practitioners from public health, primary and social care will be identified via Three Schools networks. These groups will co-produce a digital intervention to support self-management of mobility issues in dementia, using participatory action research principles. Multiple meetings will facilitate iterative co-design. Finally, I will submit two competitive senior fellowship applications based on the coproduced digital mobility intervention to support future research goals.