Dr Alison Ward, Associate Professor

Alison is an Associate Professor, with particular research interests and expertise in dementia, creative engagement and wellbeing, and patient and public involvement. Alison has a strong background in service evaluation and mixed methods research, working with a range of charitable and health organisations. Alison is also the Co-Lead of the Northamptonshire Dementia Research and Innovation Centre, which supports and builds on the research and enterprise work of the Faculty of Health, Education and Society and is a Visiting Fellow at the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory (GIAM), University of West London.

Alison was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship 2015, part of the Baring Foundation’s Creative Ageing scheme, to visit Denmark and lead a project exploring the experiences of people with early stage dementia through photography and storytelling. This work has inspired Alison’s PhD, which explored how photography and storytelling can be used as a way to engage people with dementia in the research process. Alison is also developing research to explore and evaluate the use of drama with younger people, and is particulalry interested in using drama and creative methods within the reserach process.

Alison is a member of the University of Northampton’s Joint Action Dementia Forum, is a founding member of the Forget Me Nots young onset dementia social group and is a certified TimeSlips storytelling facilitator, delivering sessions with patients at a local hospital. Alison therefore brings experience of both research and practice, which supports her understanding of the current field of arts and older people. This understanding is strengthened by involvement with a number of national organisations such as, the Royal Society for Public Health’s Special Interest Group in Arts, Health and Wellbeing, the Arts Health Early Career Researcher Network, Arts4Dementia and the Creative Arts Dementia Network. Alison is also Co-Chair of the Faculty’s Research Ethics Committee and is committed to working to high ethical standards of practice.

Alison’s PhD explored how photography and storytelling can be used as a way to engage people with dementia in the research process. Alison is also developing research to explore and evaluate the use of drama with younger people, and is particulalry interested in using drama and creative methods within the reserach process.