Challenge. Caring for the increasing numbers of people across Europe with advanced dementia and palliative care needs who live in care homes is difficult and demanding. People with advanced dementia can be immobile, non-verbal and unable to take part in day-to-day activities. They can be unsettled or agitated, with low quality-of-life and elevated levels of discomfort. Family members can find it difficult to connect meaningfully with their relative and are anxious about the future.

1 in 10 people in Ireland who are diagnosed with dementia are aged under 65, and this is termed “Young Onset Dementia”. The impact of a diagnosis at this time of their lives is huge, and also greatly impacts families, where young children may be involved. However, services in Ireland have typically overlooked this group, being targeted towards the needs of a much older population.

We are conducting a survey and in-depth interviews to find out what are the support/service needs of people living with different types of dementia and their care partners, i.e. what services they have or would like access to/what resources would help to improve their quality of life.

No new Alzheimer's drug treatment had be licensed for 20 years until 2021, when the first Alzheimer's disease-modifying therapy (DMT) was licensed in the USA, giving hope of slowing/reversing the disease. Several new DMTs are expected. Unfortunately, offering DMTs in Ireland requires significant changes in Memory Clinic set-up, due to high drug costs and need for careful monitoring. Moreover, DMTs only work in people in early Alzheimer's, which is often unrecognized in Ireland.

The PROtein enriched MEDiterranean Diet and EXercise (PROMED-EX) randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to determine the efficacy of a protein-enriched Mediterranean diet, with and without exercise, in comparison with standard care, on nutritional status and cognition in adults at risk of undernutrition with subjective cognitive decline. The project will explore the mechanistic pathways in diet-exercise induced change in nutritional status and cognition.

Initial review work with non-participant observation of care to gather observer perspectives of pre-school age children engaging with older people with cognitive decline. Loosely informed by Hodges’ health career framework to include physical, psychological, social and organisational benefits.

Our research aims to explore media supports used by Irish families who care for or have recently cared for a loved one with dementia. Media supports may include podcasts, radio shows, television programmes or adverts, websites, apps, physical information sheets, and other forms of information provision. We want to find out if Irish families caring for a loved one with dementia use resources of this type, if they are suitable, and how they are used in dementia care.

Mounting evidence suggests that dietary caffeine intake may exert some beneficial effects in reducing dementia risk and possibly Alzheimer’s disease, and may be a viable therapeutic approach. Clinical studies also suggest that caffeine is a cognitive normalizer and not a cognitive enhancer. Moreover, some clinical studies suggest the neuroprotective effect of caffeine might be confounded by gender.