Driving Innovation in Dementia Care: Research Wales Innovation Fund

What role does the voluntary sector play in driving and delivering innovative dementia care in Wales? This is the question that Maria Cheshire and her team at Swansea University are asking. This Research Wales Innovation Funded project has supported and developed a strong local partnership between Swansea University and Dementia Friendly Swansea (DFS). DFS is driven by the third sector and is a collaboration between local authority, ABMU, and SMEs in Swansea. DFS is an example of a Swansea based third sector provider leading on delivering innovative solutions that respond to the challenges of an ageing population and increasing demand for community-based dementia care. The lead applicant, Maria Cheshire Allen, has established a relationship with DFS (as a volunteer with Swansea Carers Centre and through her position as Chair of Athena Swan Staff Carer’s Network). Maria Cheshire Allen is an early career researcher, who has worked in partnership with Dementia Friendly Swansea, to carry out pilot studies to explore how the voluntary sector is responding to the ‘dementia care challenge’, what helps or hinders implementation of evidence-based innovation, and identify where, why and how innovative best practice can be sustained by the sector. The following KPIs have been looked at throughout the study: 1. Responding to the ‘dementia care challenge’ a Research Fellowship proposal co-produced (by MCA and DFS) submission to HCRW (and/ or ESRC New Investigator grant). Proposal will aim to identify third sector driven innovation and leadership in delivering community based social care support for carers of PLWD. 2. A memorandum of understanding between SU CIA and DFS 3. Key research findings published and disseminated relating to voluntary sector innovation in dementia care services. In the podcast, Maria, Abi and Eve discuss the focus of the study which centres around the care-crisis in the UK and looking at the different areas of long-term care. Maria emphasises of care needs are growing and becoming more and more complex, with an increased amount of care being delivered by un-paid carers. There has been significantly less support for people to manage independent caring in the home, which has put more burdens on the unpaid carers. Maria and Abi have been looking at the wellbeing aspects to do with caring, which provides unpaid carers in Swansea that extra support. With thanks to the Research Wales Innovation Fund, this project has partnered with the local Dementia Hwb in Swansea. This partnership has provided the opportunity for Maria to look more in depth at what support is currently provided by local and third sector organisations to unpaid carers and specifically unpaid carers to people living with dementia. This Research Wales Innovation Funded project began as a literature review, looking at broadly general debates and discussions around the role of the third sector. The funding played a crucial part in forming some of the methods used, such as: 1. Focus groups with key actors in delivering support to unpaid carers 2. Four focus groups during October/November in the Dementia Hwb and online with a range of different organisations and carers themselves 3. Analysis of findings 4. Submission of the research paper which has been accepted and currently in development 5. The engagement event on the 25th May at Swansea University, this provided Maria and Abi the chance to receive feedback, collaboration opportunities and discussion surrounding their findings. As Maria says, the event "brings people who have been involved in the project so far altogether." The Research Wales Innovation Fund has brought people together in person, which has been one of Maria's highlights of the project as since Covid, it's been brilliant to see people in person again. The event had at least 10 different local and national organisations representing the third sector, such as: 1. WCVA, Wales's Council for Voluntary Action 2. Dementia Hwb 3. Dementia UK Who have each visited the event to talk about their shared roles in supporting unpaid carers of people living with dementia. In the podcast, Abi emphasises how influential the RWIF fund was in providing the chance to hear feedback, indulge in networking opportunities and learn more about how different organisations can help each other. A particular interesting topic that Maria and Abi digested in their research was the competition between sectors, due to everyone wanting to apply for the same funding pots, however when Maria and Abi organised everyone to be in the same room together - all competition disappeared because everyone there wants the same outcome.