Our past webinars

Our recent series of webinars has focused on a variety of topics including support for people and families affected by young onset dementia, diagnosis and prevalence and service development and different service models.

Support for people and families affected by young onset dementia

The care of people with young onset dementia in mental health wards

Professor Emma Wolverson provided a unique insight into who is admitted into mental health wards, what led up to and the aims of admission, how long younger people living with dementia typically stay and what happens when they leave.

Christine Wise shared her personal experience of her husband’s admission and Mark Jones spoke about the Young Onset Dementia Service in Cardiff and offered his reflections.

New insights on working and dementia

Presenters Dr Rachel Allen, Dr Keira Kenny and Dr Connor McDonald shared emerging evidence from three research projects currently underway by the Working With Dementia Network Plus research team exploring dementia and employment.

Members of the Working With Dementia Advisory Panel shared their lived experiences of working following a diagnosis of young onset dementia. 

Autism and young onset dementia

Presenters Dr Ryan Gray and Dr Gavin Stewart explored the experiences of autistic people when accessing dementia healthcare, highlighted some of the barriers they may encounter and the importance of making services more accessible and inclusive. 

Lou shared her lived experience as an autistic carer for her mum with dementia, her difficulties in navigating services and her mum’s transition into a care home.

Beyond age-appropriate: tailoring services for the individual with young onset dementia and their family

Maud Ritzen presented how the needs of people with young onset dementia vary depending on dementia subtype, stage and living situation. Dr Suzanne Heron explored the concept of ‘age-appropriate support’ and Leanne Elliot discussed her experience of accessing care for her mother who has young onset dementia.

Social care for young onset dementia: the financial impact

Dr Catherine Quinn shared findings from the DYNAMIC project around the financial impact of young onset dementia and highlighted the role of social care in enabling families to plan and cope with the financial challenges. Elaine talked about her personal experience of the financial impact and the support needed to manage it.

Social care for young onset dementia: raising social workers’ awareness

Professor Jan Oyebode provided findings from the DYNAMIC project and introduced a co-produced resource to help raise social workers’ understanding of young onset dementia. Julie, a former social worker and who lives with young onset dementia, talked about her experiences of social care and the potential for improvement.

Supporting autonomy in people living with young onset dementia

Hosted by Professor Linda Clare at University of Exeter alongside Rachael Litherland, Innovations in Dementia and Allison Batchelor and Chris Norris, who both live with young onset dementia. They explored practical ideas and resources that can support ways in which autonomy can be maintained for younger people with dementia.

Supporting people who live alone with young onset dementia

Dr Jenni Brooks; Damian Murphy; Jane King and Michael and Wayne who are living with young onset dementia, shared recent research findings, resources and discussed how best to support younger people who live alone with dementia.

Advance care planning and young onset dementia

A webinar in collaboration with the Young Onset Dementia Knowledge Center in the Netherlands; hosted by Professor Christian Bakker. The webinar highlighted the importance and challenges of advance care planning, and suggested an approach that is holistic, flexible and relational.

Age-appropriate support in care homes

Admiral Nurses Jules Knight and Fran Mada were joined by Rachel Beckett of Wellburn Care Homes and Andy, a family member. They discussed the issues younger people face when looking for age-appropriate residential care and how homes can make changes to better support them.

Supporting children and young people affected by parental young onset dementia

Hannah Gardner and Patricia Masterson-Algar discuss how progress is being made to improve the support that young people affected by parental young onset dementia receive.

How can a GP help people with young onset dementia?

A good relationship with a GP is key to helping a person with young onset dementia and their family navigate the complex systems and pathways for dementia care. Dr Nerida Burnie discussed the key points where GPs can help people with young onset dementia.

Tailored memory clinic care

A webinar in collaboration with the Young Onset Dementia Knowledge Center in the Netherlands. Dr Jackie Poos addressed support for people with young onset dementia and their family members during the diagnostic pathway at the memory clinic and how the gap from diagnosis to post-diagnostic care and support could be bridged.

Navigating young onset dementia from pre-diagnosis onwards

Led by Jill Quinn and colleagues from Dementia Forward, this webinar shared their learnings from work with families at all stages of young onset dementia from before diagnosis and beyond.

Diagnosis and prevalence

Why numbers matter and change is possible

Dr Janet Carter and Michael Jackson discussed the importance of using data to better communicate the need for improved services for younger people living with dementia.

Young onset dementia and general practice – identifying symptoms before diagnosis

This webinar focused on the first symptoms of young onset dementia, how to increase their recognition and better identify people with young onset dementia at an earlier stage.

Improving the diagnosis process for people with atypical symptoms

Rare Dementia Support focused on how we can improve the diagnosis process for people that present with atypical symptoms.

Misdiagnosis

Dr Clarissa Giebel discussed misdiagnosis in dementia and the existing evidence on the topic within the context of inequality. Misdiagnosis is one of the key reasons for people with young onset dementia experiencing delays in understanding their symptoms and receiving an accurate diagnosis.

Changing perceptions of diagnosis

Dr Susan Mitchell focused on how the preferences of people living with dementia, a shifting political landscape and advances in research and drug discovery can help the dementia diagnosis pathway evolve.

Service development and different service models

Young Onset Dementia Nurse-Led Service, Northampton

This webinar focused on the nurse-led Younger People With Dementia Team based in Northampton which provides assessments, diagnosis, and support for individuals under the age of 65 who are living with dementia.

Leeds: a collaboration between neurology and psychiatry

Dr Rumana Chowdhury and Dr Zumer Jawaid, talked about the joint neurology and psychiatry clinic for young onset dementia in Leeds.

Young Onset Dementia Service, Doncaster

This webinar focused on the long-established Young Onset Dementia Service, in Doncaster.

Service improvement project to support the person with young onset dementia and their family

The Wokingham Memory Clinic and Oxford Centre for Genomic Medicine shared their multidisciplinary approach to ensure genetic testing can be considered for younger people with dementia and their families.

Memory clinics and the NHS England Genomic Medicine Service

Dr Nick Bass described the North Thames Genomic Medicine Service Alliance transformation project to embed genomic investigation in mental health service provided memory clinics.