Health, Wellbeing and Care

Mapping the dementia ontology for improved care

In this project, we are first seeking to conceptualise and create an ontology of the entities surrounding a person living with dementia. The goal is then to determine whether tablet-based technologies can better connect the entities for improved access to holistically supportive care and well-being resources.

Contact: Dr Diane Pennington (diane.pennington@strath.ac.uk).

Language Production in Parkinson’s Disease

This research, supervised by Prof Anja Lowit, Dr Louise Brown and Dr Anja Kuschmann, aims to find out more about the difficulties individuals with Parkinson’s Disease may experience with using language – for example, with formulating sentences. Particularly, the study aims to find out more about why any such difficulties may be presenting (i.e. whether they are linguistic in nature, or reflect other cognitive changes), and how they present in different speaking conditions.

Contact: Rebecca Wagstaff (rebecca.wagstaff@strath.ac.uk)

Perspectives of the Management of Dysphagia and Mealtime Difficulties in Dementia

This project is being completed as part of a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Anja Lowit and Carolyn Andrews. It is exploring the practices and perspectives of carers and allied health professionals who are providing support to people with dementia who have issues with mealtimes and who may have dysphagia, also known as swallowing difficulties.

Contact Aisling Egan (aisling.egan@strath.ac.uk).

The Supported Carer Project

The Supported Carer Project is a national survey to understand current and future technology use in carers (both for self-care and caring for others). The aim is to inform research policy and current practice, using interviews, focus groups and surveys to form a 'real world' picture of technology experiences and expectations for supporting health and wellness.

Contact Kieren Egan (kieren.egan@strath.ac.uk).