Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Alison is a Senior Researcher, 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 Lead of the Centre for Health Sciences and Services which supports and builds on the research and enterprise work of the Faculty of Health, Education and Society.
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.
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, University of Northampton
Award Date: 27 Mar 2019
Master, The Open University
Award Date: 30 Jun 2010
Bachelor, University of Leicester
Award Date: 28 Jun 1996
Keywords
- H Social Sciences (General)
- Dementia
- Creativity
- Wellbeing
- Qualitative
- Photography
- Storytelling
- Photo elicitation
- Drama
Fingerprint
- 8 Similar Profiles
Projects
- 2 Finished
Research Output
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Exploring how the use of validated measures may affect the way people with dementia respond and how their dignity can best be supported
Schack Thoft, D., Ward, A., Jensen, A. M. & Ottesen, A. C., 10 Dec 2020.Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Future Focused: Young People’s Aspirations Explored Through Drama
Ward, A. & Pyer, M., 19 Mar 2020Research output: Non-Textual Output › Digital or Visual Media
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Journey of ethics – Conducting collaborative research with people with dementia
Schack Thoft, D., Ward, A. & Youell, J., 24 Apr 2020, In: Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice. 0, 0, p. 1-20 20 p., 0.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
The cost of visit-based home care for up to two weeks in the last three months of life: a pilot study of community care based at a hospice at home service in south east of England
Spiro, S., Ward, A., Sixsmith, J., Graham, A. & Varvel, S., 5 Nov 2020, In: Journal of Community Health Nursing. 37, 4, p. 203-213 10 p.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review
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‘Just ask me what it means to live with dementia’ – people with mild dementia’s strategies and techniques shared through in-depth qualitative interviews
Ward, A. & Schack Thoft, D., 16 Dec 2020, In: Journal Of Clinical Nursing.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review
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Life Story Sharing: A Therapeuitic Intervention in Palliative Care
Quinney, M., Ward, A. & Youell, J., 27 Mar 2019, Voices of Illness: Negotiating Meaning and Identity. Brill/ Rodopi, p. 48-70 22 p.Research output: Contribution to Book/Report › Chapter › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
A community event to raise awareness of dementia
Ward, A., Pyer, M., Parkes, J. & Hughes-Rowland, R., 1 Mar 2018, In: Journal of Dementia Care. 26, 2, p. 18-19 2 p.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article
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A visual and creative approach to exploring people with dementia’s experiences of being students at a school in Denmark
Ward, A., Schack Thoft, D., Lomax, H. & Parkes, J., 12 Jul 2018, In: Dementia. 19, 3, p. 1-19 19 p.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Prizes
Activities
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Exploring how the dynamics of story support people with dementia to give voice to their expenses and raise awareness of what it means to live with dementia
Alison Ward (Author)
10 Dec 2020Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Oral presentation › Research
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Young people’s aspirations explored through drama
Alison Ward (Author) & Michelle Pyer (Author)
9 Jun 2020Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Oral presentation › Research
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Exploring how the dynamics of story support people with dementia to give voice to their expenses and raise awareness of what it means to live with dementia
Alison Ward (Author)
10 Dec 2020Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Oral presentation › Research
File -
Exploring how the dynamics of story support people with dementia to give voice to their expenses and raise awareness of what it means to live with dementia
Alison Ward (Author)
10 Dec 2020Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Oral presentation › Research
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Life after Doctorate: Working in Academia
Alison Ward (Speaker), Kathleen Mortimer (Speaker) & Meanu Bajwa-Patel (Speaker)
25 Jan 2020Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Seminar › Research
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Exploring the Experiences of People with Early Stage Dementia through Photography and Storytelling
Alison Ward (Speaker)
22 Oct 2019Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Invited talk › Research
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University College of Northern Denmark
Alison Ward (Visiting researcher)
19 Nov 2019 → 22 Nov 2019Activity: Public Engagement and Outreach › Visiting an external academic institution
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Fermynwoods Contemporary Art
Alison Ward (Visiting researcher)
14 Nov 2017Activity: Public Engagement and Outreach › Public lecture/debate/seminar › Research
Press / Media
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Three peaks in four weeks with virtual mountain trek for charity
12/02/20
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media
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“Young Onset Dementia” book published
Alison Rosemary Ward & Jacqueline Helen Parkes
15/03/18
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media
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Sharing Stories for Wellbeing
Alison Ward, Miranda Quinney & Jane Youell
7/12/17
1 Media contribution
Press/Media
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Blog: University of Northampton alumni Jane Youell on why you should come to our Death Cafe next week
25/10/17
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media
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University of Northampton alumni Jane Youell on why you should come to our Death Cafe next week
23/10/17
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media
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Training to help health and social care professionals better understand dementia
Alison Rosemary Ward, Jacqueline Helen Parkes & Matthew Callender
25/08/16
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media
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Memory Day at the Grosvenor Centre
Alison Rosemary Ward, Jacqueline Helen Parkes & Michelle Pyer
9/08/16 → 16/08/16
2 items of Media coverage
Press/Media
Impacts
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Helping Northampton Filmhouse become more dementia friendly through the Dementia Friendly Organisation Awards
Alison Ward (Principal Investigator), Michelle Pyer (Principal Investigator) & Kathleen Mortimer (Facilitator)
Impact: 03: Good Health and Well-Being (UN SDG), Cultural impacts, Quality of life impacts, Health and Well-Being impacts
Thesis
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Using Photography and Storytelling With People With Early-Stage Dementia to Understand Their Lived Experience and Enable Them to Tell Their Stories
Author: Ward, A., 27 Mar 2019Supervisor: Parkes, J. (Supervisor) & Lomax, H. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis