Peer Support and Caring Relationships in Dementia

This interdisciplinary project will explore how people with dementia (PWD) experience support from other PWD (often referred to as ‘peer support’) and how this impacts on their relationships with friends, family, and formal carers. The questions this study will explore are:

• How far does peer support meet the needs of people with dementia and the needs of their wider care network?
• How do peer support programmes impact on the demands for care and support from other sources – both informal carers (family and friends) and formal carers (nurses and healthcare assistants)?
• In what ways does the participation of people with dementia in peer support programmes shape the ways in which they interact with, and receive care from family and friends?
• In what ways does the participation of people with dementia in peer support programmes shape the ways in which they interact with, and receive care from different healthcare professionals in different healthcare environments – for example, nurses and healthcare assistants within the care home environment; district nurses in the community.

This studentship offers the opportunity to develop a qualitative interdisciplinary project examining peer support and its relationship to care (informal and formal nursing) in dementia which contributes to a wider programme of research on the maintenance of identity and relationships for PWD and on relational care in the context of ageing. It offers the opportunity to develop innovative methodologies to engage PWD and contribute theoretically and empirically to an area of increasing importance in the care of PWD as well as offering insights that can contribute to social policies, nursing, and the practices of social care in this important field.

For further information see the University of Brighton website.