Congratulations to our Dementia Student Award Winners

Dijana Dumancic is the winner of the Postgraduate Davida Fortinsky Award for Outstanding Dementia Studies

Dijana experienced a period of ill-health during the first year of the programme which led to her needing to take a significant amount of time off work and spend some time in hospital. Despite this she managed to progress to year 2 on time, and pass all modules and assignments at the first attempt. Her final year dissertation on the impact of music therapy for people with dementia identified important impacts on social interaction and received a very good mark, which was well-deserved. Dijana was clearly motivated throughout the MSc programme by the desire to deliver the best possible levels of care, in the most person centred way possible, to people living with dementia. Dijana has recently graduated with the MSc in Dementia Studies.

Claire Jacobs is the winner of the Undergraduate Davida Fortinsky Award for Outstanding Dementia Studies

Claire overcame adversity during the course of the degree. She assisted family during periods of ill health and experienced great difficulty when the service she managed closed down halfway through her final year project and she had to relocate residents. Despite this Claire still managed to complete her work to a high standard. Her final year project on improving life history documentation within the residential and day care service she managed demonstrated her commitment to delivering and promoting person-centred care and had a positive impact on the well-being of the residents. Claire has recently graduated with the BSc (Hons) in Dementia Studies.

Louise Rook is the winner of the Dr Trevor Jarvis Award for Outstanding Commitment to Adult Learning

Louise works in Further Education, and throughout the programme has demonstrated a passion for learning and practice change which is exemplary. She has kept up a consistently high standard of academic work, but was nominated for this award mainly due to the innovative nature of her teaching, and the creative development of learning resources around improving mealtimes for people with dementia in long-term care. Louise took on a voluntary placement for a day a week in addition to her regular employment in order to be able to follow through this line of work across several modules in the programme. Louise’s dissertation supervisor adds that during the dissertation module she demonstrated a dedication to working in an ethical, considered way, as well as a passion for learning and knowledge. These qualities and principles, along with her creative thinking and desire to explore issues in-depth, made it a pleasure to work with her on this module. Louise has recently graduated with the MSc Training in Dementia Care.

Photograph (left to right):

Dr Danielle Jones (BSc Dementia Studies Course Leader); Claire Jacobs (BSc Dementia Studies Graduate); Dr Alys Griffiths (former Lecturer in Dementia Studies); Professor Murna Downs (Head of the School of Dementia Studies).