Research and Knowledge Exchange Cafe, 4 April 2024

4th Apr 2024 2pm - 4pm

Greenwich Campus

QM167, Queen Mary Building, Greenwich Campus

An ILD Research and Knowledge Exchange Café will take place on Thursday 4th April 2024 from 2-4pm in QM167, Queen Mary Building at Greenwich Campus.

Ruqaiya Jahanara, Postgraduate Research student in the School of Human Sciences, will be giving a talk titled 'Mental Health and Miscarriage: A Social-neural Approach'.

Depression is the most commonly occurring mental health disorder globally and women are found to be impacted by depression twice as much as men. In particular, the occurrence of depression is highly prevalent among those women who experience miscarriage. Unfortunately, this vulnerable group is often overlooked in research relating to mental health and so this research project will aim to fill in this gap in the literature. Also, it is hoped that this will work towards improving women's mental health alongside their quality of life.

About the speaker
Ruqaiya Jahanara is a Postgraduate Research student at the University of Greenwich, currently undertaking a PhD Human Sciences (Psychology) degree in the Faculty of Education, Health and Human Sciences. Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding women's mental health and aims to improve their quality of life. Additionally, Ruqaiya works as a Postgraduate Research Teaching Assistant at the institution and has extensive experience in teaching.

Dr Purity Mwendwa will be giving a talk titled ‘Experiences of Dementia in Kenya’.

The number of people living with dementia is growing globally. Countries in Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are expected to see a sharp increase in the number of people with dementia in the next couple of years. Despite this projected increase, there is little awareness and knowledge about dementia in most SSA countries. National dementia policies are yet to be developed in these countries. Having dementia in most of these countries is highly stigmatised. There is a lack of awareness and knowledge about dementia, not just among the public, but even health care providers. This means that people with dementia and those who care for them lack access to support and care, which has implications for their health and well-being.

In the absence of these formal supports, the need to develop innovative approaches to support people with dementia and those who support them to continue living well with dementia is needed. Increasingly, emphasis is being placed on the role that local communities (networks of family, friends, and neighbours) can play in supporting people with dementia and those who care for them, but these approaches have been developed in high-income settings like the UK. How well, if at all, the learning from these settings translate to non-Western and non-urban contexts has yet to be developed.

This talk will describe some of the work that the ENGAGE (dEvelopiNG A neiGhbourhood model for dEmentia) project is doing in Kenya. ENGAGE examines the potential for rural neighbourhoods to enhance the well-being of people with dementia and those who care for them to inform the development of a dementia neighbourhood model (DNM) using a community-based participatory approach.

About the Speaker
Dr Purity Mwendwa completed her Doctorate in Global Health from University College Dublin in Ireland. She is currently a DOROTHY/ Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Fellow at Trinity College Institute of Neurosciences in Ireland and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Greenwich in the UK. Her research examines the social determinants of health with a focus on health equity, social justice, and empowerment. She has conducted research in a number of African countries and immigrant communities in Ireland and the USA. Her passion is to conduct research that has a wider societal impact in terms of improving the lives of older people, people with disabilities, and mental health challenges.

Her current project ENGAGE(dEvelopiNG A neiGhbourhood model for dEmentia) explores how neighbourhoods and local communities can better support people living with dementia and their families in Meru County in Kenya. ENGAGE is co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under MSCA.

She is also a Fulbright- HRB Health Impact Scholar, an award she received in 2021 to carry out dementia research among immigrant communities in California, in collaboration with the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of San Diego, California.

In 2019, she was awarded the Government of Ireland Post-Doctoral Fellowship to work with communities in Kenya and strengthen opportunities for dialogue between men and women about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), using culturally sensitive approaches and co-design a community action plan for male involvement in FGM abandonment.

She is a member of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART).

The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The project is hosted by Trinity college, Dublin, and the University of Greenwich.

Refreshments will be provided and there will be opportunities for Q&A after the presentation.

We are very much looking forward to seeing colleagues in person at the Research and Knowledge Exchange Café.

BOOKING REQUIRED

Booking costs: Please accept the calendar invite from ILD@greenwich.ac.uk to register your attendance

Further details