Why you should sponsor a young person to study a MSc degree in Dementia
Rianna Patterson MBPS
Founder of Dominica Dementia Foundation and TEDx speaker. Dementia MSc (UCL)
1. Improve the quality of life for people with dementia
Dementia is one of the biggest medical challenges of our time and is arguably the leading cause of death.?Lancet Global data ?estimates that 574 people are living with dementia in?Dominica, is expected to raise to 999 people by 2050. Although these numbers may seem small, it is still a concern.
My involvement with dementia began when my grandfather passed away from it in Dominica when I was 16. I would spend my time at the hospital with my grandfather. This experience highlighted to me the lack of understanding of dementia in public health facilities, cultural stigma towards dementia, the lack of access to support for young carers and insufficient research and resources for treatments for dementia. I founded a youth-led dementia charity in Dominica in memory of him, to support families and caretakers who look after someone with dementia.
According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, every 3 seconds someone develops dementia and there are over 55 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2020. This number will almost double every 20 years, reaching 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050. It is imperative that we are aware of a healthy lifestyle we can adopt to improve our quality of living, as a result will reduce our risk of dementia. There’s also rare cases of childhood dementia which occur in children, between infancy — up to 18.
There are environment factors associated with developing dementia. In the Caribbean, the official Hurricane season runs from June - November. The strongest hurricane recorded since Hurricane David, occurred in 2017. The impact of the environment also affect an individual’s mental health and worsens mental health conditions, including dementia and climate anxiety — fear of the occurrence of Hurricanes is apparent in our community.
Low — middle-income countries should restructure their healthcare systems in order to accommodate the growing number of dementia cases. England, and other countries with high incomes, are starting to feel the effect of an aging population as the NHS begins to face the consequences of this change. The healthcare system in the UK is becoming short-staffed, which means maintaining patient outcomes at a high standard is a constant battle. Wait times for diagnostics and treatments are increasing, for someone with a neurodegenerative disease such as dementia, which is rapidly increasing — time is a true commodity.
There’s also extensive medical costs associated with long-term care for people with dementia. Alzheimer’s Society have campaigned for many years to end the ‘dementia tax’ in England. Two-thirds (￡22.2 billion) of the cost of dementia is paid by people with dementia and their families, either in the value of unpaid care (￡13.9 billion) or paid by private social care (Alzheimer’s Society, 2019). The economic cost of private residential facilitates can also be a barrier for families in African and Caribbean households.
Our global population is estimated to project to 9.8 billion by 2050; WHO is encouraging all countries to work towards solidifying a National Plan for Dementia by 2025, including Dominica as we do not have an established working plan.
2. We need professionals from diverse backgrounds who can contribute research and innovative practices towards dementia.
The solution to dementia is still being explored, one individual can not solve it. It is important to have a diverse set of global think tanks to bring new approaches to this field.
“My vision is to reduce the impact of dementia in BME communities, promoting the importance of intergenerational and cultural difference in policy, research and practice around dementia care, in both institutional care and in the community. This area is important to highlight as it contributes to the stigma of mental health in BME communities, which can be a contributing factor in the underrepresentation of black communities' participation in research on dementia.”
According to Moise Roche, a Guadeloupean researcher based in the UK,?Black African and Black Caribbean?people are more likely to develop dementia and at younger ages than White people. Caribbean and African communities are also less likely to partake in drug trials or treatments for dementia, or explore residential care facilitates.
“I began examining the material of Dr Solomon Carter Fuller. Dr Fuller, was a black researcher who worked closely with Dr Alzheimer’s in the early discovery of dementia. Dr Fuller mitigated racial disparities by training aspiring black psychiatrists.”
Recent research on communities from ethnic backgrounds can be misrepresented. Society's current view of dementia could explain this. Misdiagnosis can be occur in these communities due to the lack of understanding of how dementia exhibits in these groups, in addition to the cultural stigma associated with dementia. Data that is grouped as B.A.M.E also limits the use of the finding proposed as B.A.M.E can not be treated as one, as each group has its individual needs.
My hope is upon completion of my MSc degree in dementia at UCL I can utilize the knowledge on biological, psychosocial and clinical elements of dementia to develop new creative solutions to this global health challenge. It is important to invest in other aspects of dementia care, not only in clinicians. As a future senior researcher, I hope to work jointly with colleagues, the government and everyone else who might be involved in this necessary healthcare revolution.
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3. Innovations in dementia contributes to shaping our society
Humans are made of neurons and cells, for dementia clients neural development is important in improving cognitive abilities, such as language, retaining and building relationships between each other and ourselves in personal and work environments. Neural regeneration in dementia clients can help to improve their memory. These type of finding are important to highlight as it is possible to regain one’s memory and also live well with dementia, which something not commonly expressed in the media. One explaination for this might be the prevalence of ageism, which is another area that needs to be addressed.
New developments in dementia research can also shape public policy. As we continue to evolve, we need to adapt working patterns to support our mental and physical health, reducing suicide rates in society.
Dementia research allows us to explore the root causes of our behaviour through biological, psychological and physiological domains, and how to manage these behaviours to reduce crime in society or physical symptoms such as stiffness, which is apparent in dementia clients. This may include exploring holistic approaches which focus on sensory development such as dementia gardens or traditional dance therapy.
4. So I can upskill my peers to others to take a similar leap of faith.
I am almost certain that you will not easily find an individual more determined to succeed as part of leading the change we need to see in dementia care than me. I am very keen to coaching other individuals who want to contribute to the area of dementia. For someone with Caribbean roots, embarking on an academic journey is not the easiest road, but we are a region with rooted lifestyle approaches, resources and lived experience on how to support our community.
If I am to receive enough sponsorship from an industry partner to accept my MSc place at UCL,?I would be keen on utilising my skills at a corporate level to bring new solutions to healthcare.
I write this sponsorship after being rejected from the Miranda Brown Leadership scholarship opportunity and other suitable public funding to sponsor my place at UCL. Unfortunately, my personal financial circumstances mean that I cannot fund my place at UCL. I have started?crowdfunding ?to pursue this master’s degree, alongside other external funding routes.
To end, it takes a village and I hope you will join the journey.
Thank you for your time.
— — Additional info:
Please use hashtag to accompany the campaign is #SendRiri2UCL where possible
There’s a vase amount of people in the field, but a lack of black representation in this area. I believe my contributions to this area would inform unique solutions towards slowing the progression of dementia, supporting people with dementia to live a high quality of life. Findings will also challenge the stigma of dementia in our community, as we are seeing more black families that are not keen on securing a diagnosis due to the stigma associated with it. A diagnosis is important to tailor the level of care and treatments provided. With the increase in people with dementia, the field is calling for a new pool of diverse researchers in under-presented countries to support client outcomes.
Merci
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