Tiffeny James

Dr Tiffeny James BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD

Research Fellow

Dr Tiffeny James joined the University of Greenwich in February 2024 as a Research Fellow to support research within the Institute for Lifecourse Development.

Tiffeny’s area of expertise is dementia. She has over 10 years’ experience working with people affected by dementia. Before moving into research, she worked as a homecare worker alongside her undergraduate Psychology degree and later, as a Dementia Advisor with the Alzheimer’s Society.

She completed her PhD in 2022 at the UCL Division of Psychiatry. Before joining the University of Greenwich, she worked as a Research Associate at King’s College London on a project to develop the role of Dementia Champions in homecare.

Posts held previously

  • 2022 - 2024 Research Associate for Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King’s College London
  • 2019 - 2022 PhD Candidate for Division of Psychiatry at University College London
  • 2019 - 2022 Post Graduate Teaching Assistant for Division of Psychiatry at University College London
  • 2018 - 2020 Research Assistant for Division of Psychiatry at University College London
  • 2016 - 2018 Dementia Advisor at Alzheimer’s Society.

Responsibilities within the university
  • Supporting research and knowledge exchange in the Institute for Lifecourse Development centres
  • Developing research projects and pursuing funding
  • Engaging in independent research and knowledge exchange.

Recognition
Membership
  • INTERDEM
  • British Society of Gerontology
  • The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network.

Research / Scholarly interests

Tiffeny is interested in experiences of living with dementia and receiving care as a person living with dementia. Her area of expertise is equity in dementia care. Her PhD thesis looked at whether people affected by dementia are supported through policy, practice, and research to receive care which is tailored to protected and minority needs such as age, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, and which enables them to achieve the same health outcomes as others.

She is also interested in how early life experiences impact experiences and symptoms of dementia in later life.

Key funded projects

2022 National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Social Care Research Career Development Award, £20,786.

Recent publications
  • Severs, E., James, T., Letrondo, P., Løvland, L., Marchant, N.L. and Mukadam, N., 2023. Traumatic life events and risk for dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC geriatrics, 23(1), p.587
  • Carter, C., James, T., Higgs, P., Cooper, C. and Rapaport, P., 2023. Understanding the subjective experiences of memory concern and MCI diagnosis: A scoping review. Dementia, 22(2), pp.439-474
  • James, T., Mukadam, N., Sommerlad, A., Barrera-Caballero, S. and Livingston, G., 2023. Equity in care and support provision for people affected by dementia: experiences of people from UK South Asian and White British backgrounds. International Psychogeriatrics, pp.1-10
  • Webster, L., Amador, S., Rapaport, P., Mukadam, N., Sommerlad, A., James, T., Javed, S., Roche, M., Lord, K., Bharadia, T. and Rahman‐Amin, M., 2023. Tailoring STrAtegies for RelaTives for Black and South Asian dementia family carers in the United Kingdom: A mixed methods study. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 38(1), p.e5868
  • Guerra, S., James, T., Rapaport, P. and Livingston, G., 2022. Experience of UK Latin Americans caring for a relative living with dementia: A qualitative study of family carers. Dementia, 21(5), pp.1574-1595
  • James, T., Mukadam, N., Sommerlad, A., Pour, H.R., Knowles, M., Azocar, I. and Livingston, G., 2022. Protection against discrimination in national dementia guideline recommendations: A systematic review. PLoS Medicine, 19(1), p.e1003860
  • James, T., Mukadam, N., Sommerlad, A., Ceballos, S.G. and Livingston, G., 2021. Culturally tailored therapeutic interventions for people affected by dementia: A systematic review and new conceptual model. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 2(3), pp.e171-e179.
Essay:
  • James, T. (2022) Equity and human-rights in dementia care. Alzheimer’s Disease International annual report – From Plan to Impact V. Available Here.
Blogs:
  • James, T. (2022) Guidelines for dementia failing to consider the needs of minority populations. Alzheimer’s Disease International. Available Here
  • James, T. (2021) Improving access to culturally appropriate interventions in dementia: a step towards closing the treatment gap. NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North Thames. Available Here.