Impact Review 2024-25: Dementia HIT

Progressing dementia as a priority within the system

The HIT supported a system-wide Dementia Discovery workshop for the region in March 2025, to inform the ICB on future commissioning of dementia services. Attendees explored what is needed to deliver better dementia care, identifying resources and specific activities, as well as building on existing good practice.

Dementia and protected characteristics

Previously, regional EDI work on dementia care has focused on ethnicity. To highlight other protected characteristics, the HIT has established a new EDI Working Group with colleagues across health and social care, to map dementia care provision in the region in relation to the other protected characteristics. This exercise has highlighted pockets of good practice, but also opportunities where these could either be standardised or shared across the system. It has led to new projects supporting those with learning disabilities and a dementia diagnosis, as well as people in prison living with dementia.

Hosting the Providers’ Forum

The Providers’ Forum network gives providers of dementia care within Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire the opportunity to share learning, access peer support and develop knowledge.

The HIT delivered several in person Providers’ Forum sessions in 2024-25. At one of these sessions, Dr Sam Creavin (GP and dementia researcher) and Dr Julie Clayton (engagement lead in dementia studies at Bristol Brain Centre) ran a workshop on new approaches to diagnosing dementia diagnosis primary care. Forum members shared their experiences about what helps people who are seeking a memory assessment, as well as the barriers to doing so. This has now led to a funded research project called Ensemble – looking at new approaches to diagnosis.

Sharing dementia research locally

The HIT’s Research Workstream hosted a Dementia Research Showcase on 22 January 2025. They invited local researchers to share the work on robotics in dementia care, the AVON CAP respiratory study which recruited care home residents, and using natural soundscapes in residential homes.

Let’s Talk Dementia

The HIT supported three local charities, Brace Dementia Research, Alive Activities and Bristol Dementia Action Alliance to launch a city wide event, Lets Talk Dementia, aiming to share research, tips, support, and create awareness of dementia. Held at the Watershed, it was the first public-facing dementia event, bringing professionals and public together to talk about dementia. It was supported by the HIT.

Gardening – intergenerational and dementia

A new garden in the Bristol Royal Infirmary turned a barren space into a sanctuary for patients with dementia. This was funded by Bristol and Weston Hospitals Charity and was developed through a link with the HIT, the charity and with Alive Activities.

Because the garden has been so successful, a further garden launched at Weston General Hospital this year.

Both spaces run weekly sessions for patients, taking them from the ward and supporting them and their family members to experience therapeutic activity in an everyday outdoor setting. Physios are able to assess patients more easily, patients are relaxed and talking, and are showing improved wellbeing as a result of attending the sessions.

An intergenerational initiative, the first of its kind in an acute setting in Bristol, has now developed from the these groups. The “Toddlers Who Came To Tea” group now meets monthly, bringing patients together with children from the community to share stories, chat and do activities together.

Funding enabled in 2024-25

Dementia HIT helped secure £335,083 in 2024-25 for projects to generate research evidence, improve outcomes and address health inequalities.