Press Releases

University of Reading takes the lead with Dementia – University of Reading

Release Date : 13 March 2009

The University of Reading is hosting an international workshop with the aim of enabling people with dementia through the use of new technologies. The workshop, on the 16th March at Reading Town Hall, will bring together national and international researchers, practitioners working in dementia care and people with dementia and their carers. The workshop will address the needs of people with dementia and their carers, and discuss exciting research which is considering how some needs might be met through new and existing technologies.

The workshop will bring together experts in the development of new technologies for care from the UK and from Canada, together with an audience of health and social care professionals, representatives of industry and charities, older people and their carers, as well as researchers. It will be chaired by Jane Gilliard, the National Dementia Strategy Programme Manager from the Department of Health.

This workshop is the first to be organised under the new KT-EQUAL (Knowledge Transfer for Extending Quality Life) programme, which is a four-year initiative funded by the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). KT-EQUAL is determined to work with practitioners and policy makers, especially those involved with the design and operation of the built environment, the design, manufacture and retailing of consumer products, and with the care of older people, to ensure that new knowledge from research benefits older people, their carers and those who work with and for them.

Professor Peter Lansley, the Director of KT-EQUAL, said "For the last decade the University of Reading has been leading the way in increasing the engagement of UK universities with research to improve the quality of later life and the needs of an ageing society. Not only has it encouraged more of its academic staff and researchers to take an interest, but it has led a series of national initiatives to ensure that all UK universities take the needs of older people seriously.

"With the launch of the National Dementia Strategy last month, the theme, the line-up of speakers and the unprecedented demand for places at the workshop, suggests that this is going to be a fitting start to the programme of activities to be followed by KT-EQUAL."

Notes to editors

For more information please contact Alex Brannen, Media Relations Manager, University of Reading, on 018 378 7388 or by email on a.brannen@reading.ac.uk

The event is being organised by Professor Peter Lansley, the Director of KT-EQUAL, and Verity Smith, the Co-ordinator KT-EQUAL, both of the University of Reading. It is being organised in conjunction with Professor Gail Mountain from Sheffield Hallam University, who is also a Director. Both Peter and Gail are available for interview on request.

KT-EQUAL is a four year programme funded by EPSRC. EPSRC has funded multidisciplinary, collaborative, user-focused design and engineering-related ageing research through a variety of programmes since 1998. Peter Lansley has been intimately involved with developing and initiating these programmes.

For more information on KT-EQUAL please see www.sparc.ac.uk