University of Sunderland developing new Alzheimer's research to improve nursing care and testing

The event saw Dr Heather Yemm and Dr Joe Butler, from the University of Sunderland, unite with academics from other regional universities to help share knowledge and expertise on the subject of specialist dementia nursing care and a new tool to diagnose people with Alzheimer’s.

Visitors to the event took part in ‘Our Wonderful Brain’ interactive activities on the way the brain works and had the opportunity to speak to Alzheimer’s Research UK and university academics on the new diagnostic technique and future care plans at the Life Sciences’ Centre, Newcastle.

Dr Yemm, a Research Fellow at the University of Sunderland’s Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute, was commissioned to run an evaluation of the Admiral Nurse Service which is funded by Dementia UK.

The Admiral Nurse pilot scheme will run for three years and is hosted by South Tyneside Health Collaborative, with support from Dementia UK and the North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. Dr Yemm’s role in this scheme is to assess the strength, impact and effectiveness of the service which provides care to those with the disease.

She said: “This event which allowed us to showcase the important research that we’re doing to understand how best to support people living with dementia and their families and wider communities.

“Many people kindly shared their own stories and experiences of dementia, and it was great to see how positive people were about the research we’re engaged with and about supporting people living with dementia.”

The event comes after recent studies have shown that one in every three people born this year will go on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s during their lifetime.

A new early detection tool that was also discussed at the event is a simple computer task revolving around memorizing opening opportunities for self-administered tests without a researcher present.

Dr Joe Butler is a senior lecturer in psychology and NIHR Research Fellow, also based in the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute. He is involved in studying new tools which potentially help with early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease.

He said: “We have recently developed a short computer task where the person has to memorise coloured shapes and takes about 15 minutes to complete. Previous research has shown that the task can identify individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease, so to have developed a version which people can accurately self-administer.”

There are estimated to be 944,000 people with dementia living in the UK with this number expected to rise to 1.1 million people by 2030.

This early detection and quality care for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease is set to bring life-changing development for over a million people in the UK and their families in the next decade, the university said.

This development includes the University of Sunderland’s Helen McArdle Research Institute who are dedicated to developing an understanding of the disease and are hoping for the new tool to change the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and for specialist dementia nursing to achieve excellence in nursing and patient care.