New project focuses on dementia in farming and rural communities
This article tells us – Dementia is a growing health problem, with an anticipated increase in the number of cases of 156 per cent between now and 2051, according to statistics from the Alzheimer’s Society. This equates to two million people, and the burden will fall on rural areas where there are significantly higher proportions of elderly people.
“Farming, Dementia and Networks of Care” is the first project of its kind to focus specifically on farming communities and dementia.
Funded by the Seale Hayne Educational Trust, the project will be carried out by Dr Richard Yarwood and Dr Claire Kelly from the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. They will be guided by a steering group including Joanne Jones from the Farming Community Network and chaired by Ian Sherriff, Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry.
The project, which will begin as a pilot in Devon, will investigate how farmers, their families and carers cope when they are affected by dementia. There are three main objectives – to consider the impact of dementia on farming businesses; to evaluate how dementia affects farming families and communities, and; to consider how voluntary and state agencies can support farming families with dementia.
Dr Yarwood commented: “This project is a starting point and we hope that it will be useful to care agencies and provide support for farming families affected by dementia. We will be making our key findings public and we hope in turn that this will lead to a wider understanding of dementia in rural places. We plan to build on this small-scale project to develop applications for future research into the care of those with dementia in the countryside.”
Ian Sherriff, who is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Task and Finish Group on Rural Dementia, added: “As someone who is totally committed to helping society tackle the many challenges that people with dementia and their carers face daily, I am really excited about the news that Plymouth University has been awarded research funding”.