Inside Dementia: Expert Dialogues Podcast - with Dr. Jane Rowley and Professor June Andrews

What does it really look like when a community listens to people living with dementia and builds support around what they need? In this episode of Inside Dementia: Expert Dialogues, Professor June Andrews talks to Dr Jane Rowley from Trent Dementia about how one charity in the East Midlands is shaping its services by listening first. Dr Rowley shares how her work with older people facing malnutrition, combined with personal experience of dementia in her own family, brought her to this field. She explains how Trent Dementia asks people living with dementia and their carers what support they actually want, then builds around those answers: coffee mornings, walking groups, social gatherings, and honest conversations about the future. The episode covers: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Dr Rowley's journey into dementia care 02:20 The Big Conversation: an annual event shaped by the voices of people living with dementia 04:00 Advanced care planning and why these conversations matter 05:30 Why consistent funding changes everything 07:30 Breaking down isolation for carers and families 10:32 New initiatives including a men's group for those affected by dementia One of the most striking parts of this conversation is how Dr Rowley describes The Big Conversation, Trent Dementia's annual gathering where people living with dementia set the agenda. Topics like advanced care planning come up because people want to talk about them, not because an organisation decided they should. Dr Rowley is clear about something that doesn't get said enough: many people caring for a loved one living with dementia feel isolated, even within their own families. Trent Dementia exists to create spaces where that isolation can start to lift. We fund partners like Trent Dementia because this is what research in action looks like. Not just the science, but the everyday support that meets people where they are. Trent Dementia is led by Dr Jane Rowley (Charity Manager) and supported by a board of trustees with deep expertise across psychiatry, social work, nursing, research, and pharmacy: Dr Tom Dening (Chair) — MA MD FRCPsych Dr Simon Burrow — Senior Lecturer in Social Work Dr Michael Craven — Senior Research Fellow, NIHR MindTech Dr Karen Harrison Dening — RN, RMN, PhD Professor James Lindesay — DM, FRCPsych Dr Helen Pusey — Senior Lecturer, RMN, MSc, PhD Emma Mary Wood — Clinical Pharmacist Dr Kevin James Harvey — Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics Kate Sartain — Advisor 📌 Learn more about Dementia Research UK and the partners we fund: https://www.demruk.org 📌 Meet the Trent Dementia team: https://www.trentdementia.org.uk/abou... -- If you found this episode helpful, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who supports a person living with dementia. Your support helps us reach more families and professionals looking for practical, compassionate dementia care solutions. #DementiaResearch #DementiaSupport #DementiaCare #DementiaDialogues #TrentDementia #UnpaidCarers #DementiaResearchUK #CommunitySupport #LivingWithDementia #CarerSupport