Grant is a Senior Lecturer in Dementia Studies in the Faculty of Social Science and is Principal Investigator on the DIALOGUE project. Grant’s research focuses on the design and implementation of assistive technology for within health and social care services for people with dementia and their carers. Grant’s research also focuses on the use of participatory research methodologies with older people and people with dementia, impact of social interventions in improving quality of life in dementia and older age.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Grant is overseeing the overall lead for WP5 (Methods and theoretical framework development). This Work Package focuses on the overall development of the actual project. Grant is involved in the following Work Packages:
Nicole joined King’s College London in 2016, where she is a Research Fellow in the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce (HSCWRU). Nicole worked on an NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR)-funded ‘Utopia’ study on telecare/assistive technology. As part of HSCWRU work, Nicole recently led a study on ‘Retention of Registered Nurses in adult social care’ and was involved in an evaluation of the role of Nursing Associates. She now leads a study on ‘Career Development in Adult Social Care’. She led and was involved in several SSCR-funded studies around self-neglect and hoarding behaviour. In the past she was engaged in studies on personalisation in care, social work in hospitals, professional development in the NHS, leadership schemes for social workers as well as General Practice Nurses, and the work of Approved Mental Health Professionals. Nicole’s research interests lie in the use of technologies, particularly with older people and in education; counselling/mentoring, social policy; personal identity/identities and how these are shaped; and bringing theory and practice together.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Nicole s the lead for Work Package 2, Evidence Synthesis. This WP will run throughout the project, and incorporates three main tasks. 1) rapid review of academic literature. 2) collating grey literature (policy documents, pilots, evaluation reports) of accessible literature across the UK. 3). A more detailed review of literature available through the 8 partner local authorities. A core team will create the review and review documents, but we ask all co-I’s to forward on any grey literature examples you are familiar with, as this will be harder to access than the academic literature. The core team will pull together a rapid review plan during the first quarter of the project.
Matthew is a social anthropologist and care scholar whose research explores the possibilities of digital technology and AI within care arrangements and systems to support older people, families, carers, and the care workforce. He is currently Associate Professor of Gerontology in the Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at Northumbria University.
Prior to his appointment at Northumbria University, Matthew was a Lecturer in Social Policy (2021-23) at the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. His research while there explored older people’s aspirations for digital technology in their everyday lives and care arrangements in England and the role of digitalisation within post-Covid futures for increased human security in the UK and South Korea. In 2023, he edited, with Dr Kate Hamblin, Care Technologies for Ageing Societies: An International Comparison (Bristol University Press) to provide accounts of convergence and divergence for care technology within policy and practice contexts in the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Japan. With Professor Helen Manchester, he led the Ageing Futures Research Group (2021-23) to explore ageing alterities related to creativity, play, technology, and care. Twitter: @MattLariv
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Matthew is the lead for Work Package 3, a realist service evaluation of piloted post-hospital discharge services with partner local authorities in the North East and South West of England. The realist service evaluation will identify the range and scope of existing service delivery data, and identify contexts, mechanisms and outcomes within post-hospital discharge services and relevant outcomes across digital care services. Matthew will also contribute to the following work packages:
Hannah is a Research Fellow in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, at The Open University. Between 2016-2022 she was the Research Fellow in the Health and Wellbeing Strategic Research Area (HW SRA), a pan-university initiative to bring inter-and-trans-disciplinary research together across the faculties with stakeholders. Previously, Hannah was a research scientist at the Institute of Sport Gerontology, at the German Sports University Cologne, working with colleagues across the EU and Australia on the EU project – iSTOPPFALLS. She undertook her postdoctoral fellowship at the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, at the University of Waterloo, ON, Canada. Twitter @HannahRMarston
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Hannah is the lead for WP 1, (Co-production partnerships) where she will oversee the co-production activities of all 3 sites: 1. Middlesbrough, 2. South West, and 3. Hertfordshire. Hannah will also contribute to the following WP:
Jennifer is a Senior Research Fellow int he Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care at the University of Hertfordshire. Her research is focused on how technology can be used to support the delivery of care for older people. Recent projects include a fellowship exploring how local authorities can use digital solutions to provide care as well as using machine learning and smart sensors in the homes of older people to enable early intervention and support if they needed it – helping them continue to live at home rather than be admitted to hospital or a care setting. Jennifer has also been involved in a new project, assessing the effectiveness of remote monitoring and ‘virtual wards’, where patients are given equipment to record observations and have virtual consultations from home. This is particularly relevant as the NHS recovers from the effects of the pandemic.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Jennifer is the lead for WP 4, (Identify core technologies and outcomes) where she will oversee the development of findings from the project, and is where the co production workshops and e-Delphi exercise are based. Jennifer will also contribute to the following WPS:
Katie is a Professor of Applied Health Research & Ageing in the Population Health Sciences Institute. Katie is a social gerontologist with an educational background in sociology. This has enabled her to pursue her research interests in the social impact that illness can have on the lives of older people. During her time as an applied health researcher Katie has researched and published widely around the impact of ill health on older people and their carers. More recently her work has focused around how aspects of the physical, social and technological environment pose challenges and opportunities for older people and their wider community.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Katie is working with Hannah as part of WP1 (Co-production partnerships) and will join Hannah for workshops in the Middlesbrough area. Katie will also contribute to the following WPS:
Joanna Thorn is a Senior Research Fellow in Health Economics at the University of Bristol. She has experience of economic evaluation of non-pharmacological interventions in a wide range of conditions, including multimorbidity. She has led a number of methodological projects, and is particularly interested in the inclusion of social care in economic evaluation. Twitter: @UoBrisHEB
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Joanna is working within and contributing to the following work packages:
Jo is a Research Fellow and trial methodologist at the Bristol Trials Centre within the University of Bristol, with 15 years of experience in trials across primary and secondary care, and an interest in complex interventions.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Joanna is working within and contributing to the following work packages:
Catherine Henderson is an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at LSE. Catherine’s research interests include psychosocial interventions for people with dementia, the cost-effectiveness of assistive technologies in managing long-term health and social care needs, intermediate care, residential care provision, and resource allocation within residential and nursing homes. Prior to taking her Master’s degree, she worked as an occupational therapist in both NHS and social-services settings in the UK and Canada.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Joanna is working within and contributing to the following work packages:
Carolyn Wilson-Nash is a lecturer in Marketing and Retail at the University of Stirling.
Role in the NIHR DIALOGUE study:
Carolyn is working within and contributing to the following work packages:
Raj Mehta experience PPIE contributor:
Raj Mehta retired from BP several years ago, where he held senior leadership positions in IT and procurement. Raj has been blind for most of his life due to a retinal condition, and was recently diagnosed with chronic conditions including Myasthenia Gravis and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).These experiences have made him particularly passionate about improving health, social care, and raising awareness and promoting the capabilities of disabled people. Raj continues to bring a unique and diverse perspective to the many roles he holds within the health, social care and voluntary sectors, as an advisor, non-executive director and trustee.