Centre for Dementia online lunchtime seminar:
Priority Setting for Research about Dementia and Hearing Conditions in Partnership with Stakeholders

Hearing loss is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for the development of dementia and is common amongst people living with dementia. This seminar outlines two approaches to engaging with people living with dementia and/or hearing conditions, their supporters (e.g., relatives, carers), and health and social care professionals (e.g., audiologists, physicians, care home staff) to identify priorities for future research in this field.

First, we will discuss a novel James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership (JLA PSP) for co-existing dementia and hearing conditions. This is the first JLA PSP to combine two different health conditions. It brings together people with lived experience, supporters, and clinicians on an equal footing to identify the most important unanswered research questions about co-existing dementia and hearing conditions. Traditional JLA PSP processes have been amended to be inclusive of groups that are often under-served by research, including people living with dementia, sign language users, and ethnic minority communities. Activities included a national survey to develop a list of research questions about co-existing dementia and hearing conditions. Published evidence is currently being reviewed to ascertain whether these questions are answered, partially answered, or unanswered. Next, we will conduct a second national survey to develop a shortlist of the research questions. Finally, we will conduct a consensus workshop using the nominal group technique to agree the top ten most important research questions.

Second, we will describe the findings of qualitative focus groups with people who live with dementia and hearing loss, including their supporters and professional carers. The focus groups explored stakeholder experiences related to caring for people living with dementia and hearing loss, as well as the challenges of delivering patient-centred care in social care settings. These priority setting activities will help ensure that future research about co-existing dementia and hearing conditions is as meaningful and impactful as possible to the people who most need it. Highlighted stakeholder experiences and priorities will be used to ground the development of future research proposals and grant applications in lived experience.

Speakers:

Dr Eithne Heffernan & Dr Emma Broome

Speaker biographies:

Dr Eithne Heffernan is a Senior Research Fellow at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. She currently leads the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership for Co-existing Dementia and Hearing Conditions. She also leads an NIHR-funded study that aims to co-design a toolkit to improve the inclusion of under-served groups in dementia and hearing research. In addition, she holds an NIHR School for Primary Care Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, which examines barriers and facilitators to accessing primary care services for adults living with hearing loss. Her previous research focused on social isolation in people living with hearing loss.

Eithne is a member of the INTERDEM Academy Management Board, which supports the training and development of Early Career Dementia Researchers (ECDRs) across Europe. She actively campaigns

for improved dementia awareness as a member of the Dementia Carers Campaign Network (Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland) and the Dementia: Understand Together Campaign Working Group (National Dementia Office, Ireland)

Dr Emma Broome is a Senior Research Fellow at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. Her work focuses on living with dementia, hearing loss and the evaluation of digital interventions.

Emma has previously been involved in projects exploring how care staff influence the access and experience of creative activity for people with dementia living in residential care. She currently holds a Dementia Career Development award looking at strategies to support people living with co-existing dementia and hearing loss in social care settings. Emma particularly enjoys working with people with lived experience of the topic being explored. Emma is the ECR representative within the NIHR Clinical Research Network Dementia National Specialty Group and a member of the Centre for Dementia in the Institute of Mental Health at Nottingham.

To register your attendance please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than 9.00am Tuesday 11 June 2024, to be added to the electronic Teams invitation list.