Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Brain health, community support and public engagement
Working with and engaging local communities and the wider public is central to our work. Our research in this area focuses on two main areas: public engagement to support brain health and dementia risk reduction, and engaging people living with or supporting someone with dementia in inclusive design, delivery and participation in research through co-production and creative methods.
Brain Health and Dementia Risk Reduction:
Maintaining brain health is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, as few other issues will have a similar level of effect on human longevity.
Widening the diversity of public engagement and involvement in brain health research is both a national and local priority but is historically difficult to achieve and maintain. We work collaboratively with brain health researchers, academics, advocates and policy makers in the UK and internationally on projects related to brain health.
Current and recent funded research and evaluation:
The Next Generation (NextGen) Brain Health research program is an international research project exploring brain health knowledge and risk factor exposure in young adults aged 18-39 years. Young adults are a neglected group in brain health research even though exposure to many lifestyle-related risk factors for dementia (e.g., depression and alcohol use) begins during this life stage. The goal of NextGen is to identify risk and resilience factors for brain health that are most important in young adulthood, so that we can intervene and prevent future dementia.
NextGen is a multi-stage, mixed-methods project. In 2022, we conducted in-depth focus groups with diverse populations of young adults in Europe and North America (n = 40, >85% non-White) to understand their conceptualization of brain health. We are currently conducting focus groups young adults who have experience playing contact sports, and young adults who are living in bigger bodies.
Building on this work, we launched a global, online brain health survey for young adults in autumn 2023. The survey is currently available in 8 languages (English, Spanish, Hindi, Mandarin, French, Korean, Amharic and Twi). Over 2,000 responses have been collected to date across five continents. In addition, the survey has been adapted for pen and paper delivery to Indigenous communities in Peru (n = 150 so far) and is now being adapted for remote communities in Ghana.
To read more about the NextGen study, please visit the project page.
Chief Investigator: Dr Laura Booi
Funder: School of Health, Small Grant
Funding amount: £7,858
INEPT was a short, satirical performance showing some of the great, and not-so-great ways humans can support their own brain health. Delivered by award-winning director and comedian Kit Green and the INEPT Team. Central to the immersive and participatory experience is a dialogue about brain health and dementia risk reduction.
INEPT showcased nine performances across the UK in November 2023: Birmingham, Surrey, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, with a total of 118
attendees. The findings from INEPT are currently being analysed.
Chief Investigator: Dr Laura Booi
Funder: Alzheimer’s Research UK, Inspire Award
Funding amount: £24,945
Funded by a Global Brain Health Leader Award from the Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's Association and the Global Brain Health Institute. This project is working in conjunction with a large-scale, multi-centre study, the PREVENT Study, which aims to establish novel and clinically applicable early biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, this project will identify the motives, facilitators, and barriers to participation in dementia prevention/risk-reduction research in healthy middle-aged adults who are under-represented in research.
Chief Investigator: Dr Laura Booi
Leeds Beckett Investigators: Professor Claire Surr and Dr Leanne Greene
Funder: Global Brain Health Institute, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Society
Funding amount: $25,000 (USD)
Funded by the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Research Network, the aim of this project is to develop the Yorkshire and Humber Brain Health Research Network (YH-BHRN) and establish a set of inclusive guidelines for brain health researchers working with Third Sector organizations that support seldom-heard from voices in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Chief Investigator: Dr Laura Booi
Leeds Beckett Investigators: Dr Sarah Smith and Dr Nicky Taylor
Funder: Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Research Network
Funding amount: £19,915.71
This international project aims to create a central hub for emerging professionals in the diplomacy space to learn about Brain Health Diplomacy focused ventures. Building on the recent model for Brain Health Diplomacy, this innovative approach, which seeks to directly connect brain health science with the concept of diplomacy, is essential to advance greater equity in brain health outcomes for an aging population. This is particularly imperative for marginalized and seldom heard communities worldwide, where traditional policy paradigms, programs, and approaches to research need this support most.
Chief Investigator: Dr Laura Booi
Funder: Global Brain Health Institute
Funding amount: €5,000
Funded by a Seed Grant from BrainLat, the aim of this project is to develop regional capacity in Latin America, for brain health diplomacy. Working in partnership with BrainLat, ReDLat, and the Global Brain Health Institute, our team will refine, test the feasibility, and disseminate a Brain Health Diplomats’ Toolkit to advance brain health diplomacy. The need to apply this framework is salient and increasing in Latin America as the cumulative burdens of brain health disorders in Latin America are the highest in the world.
Chief Investigator: Dr Walter Dawson, Oregon Health and Science University
Leeds Beckett Investigators: Dr Laura Booi
Funder: BrainLat Institute
Funding amount: £19,915.71
Theatre, the Arts and co-production with people living with dementia:
Receiving a dementia diagnosis can be life-changing for the person and their family and friends. Creative support and engagement provided by the wider community, including the voluntary sector and arts organisations, play a vital role in helping people to cope with dementia, to feel supported and to lead active and fulfilling lives post-diagnosis. Our work in this area includes research and evaluation around community-based support for people affected by dementia, with a particular interest in theatre and the arts.
People living with a diagnosis of dementia and those who support them, including friends and family members have a wealth of expertise. We work in co-production with people affected by dementia to develop and conduct research which is relevant to their needs, inclusive and accessible.
Current and recent funded research and evaluation:
This co-production project was designed by people living with dementia from the Leeds Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project (DEEP), as part of the Dementia Enquirers project’s commitment to put people with dementia in the driving seat of research. The research element of the project was a survey of people diagnosed with dementia in Yorkshire to understand the new opportunities people experienced after diagnosis, and what barriers and facilitators effected people taking up new opportunities. The survey design, data collection and analysis was supported by members of the Centre for Dementia Research team.
The report from the study is available here.
Chief Investigator: Dr Nicky Taylor
Leeds Beckett Investigators: Professor Claire Surr and Dr Laura Booi
Funder: Dementia Enquirers, The National Lottery Community Fund
Funding amount: Partnership project with Leeds Up and Go DEEP group
This Pilot Award for Global Brain Health Leaders addresses the first stage of an ambitious plan to create a research centre focused on theatre and dementia. This feasibility study asks specifically: how can people with dementia be successfully involved in the co-production of a research centre for theatre and dementia? A practical process of creative co-production will engage people with dementia as creative equals to determine the focus and ambition of the centre’s initial plan, and as ongoing collaborators as it is realised. This pilot will draw on knowledge, experience and opinions of people with dementia, artists and researchers, to co-produce a model for the centre, giving equal weight to theatre practice and the scientific study of that practice.
Chief Investigator: Dr Nicky Taylor
Funder: Global Brain Health Institute, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Society
Funding amount: $25,000
This project brings together researchers and practitioners working in dementia-related co-production. The aim is to recognise co-production and dementia practice as a specialism, and to develop a network for vital peer support in conducting this work safely. Three workshops involving researchers and people with lived experience of dementia, will offer a safe space to interrogate the practice, quality and challenges of co-production. We will collaboratively and creatively develop accessible evidence-based guidance and support for co-production practice in the dementia field.
Chief Investigator: Dr Nicky Taylor
Funder: National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
Funding amount: £19,963
