Stories from our award-holders
Here, you’ll find case studies on some of the research and community awards we’ve previously funded, as well as some which are in progress. You can search more of our academic and clinical research grant awards and the resulting publications on Europe PubMed Central.
Building links with seldom-heard and seldom-asked older communities
Read how Prof Mark Hawley at the University of Sheffield is connecting with “seldom-heard” communities to ensure his project is representative and inclusive.
Improving the quality of life for care home residents with chronic diseases
When nearing the end of their life, care home residents with chronic diseases can often find themselves in and out of hospital. This affects their quality of life and is distressing for both them and
Find out moreCan mindfulness help prevent dementia in older adults at risk?
Dr Tim Whitfield at University College London undertook a PhD that looked at predicting the onset of dementia in people with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and investigated how mindfulness may help prevent cognitive decline.
Improving geriatric care through a new innovative training programme for medical students
Despite the UK’s ageing population, there is a lack of training in geriatric care for undergraduate medical students. In collaboration with colleagues, Dr Grace Pearson and Dr Emily Henderson, both at the University of Bristol,
Find out moreUnravelling the mystery of frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder is a painful and disabling condition, but how it develops remains unknown. Read how Hamez Gacaferi’s work is starting to unravel this mystery.
A helping hand with insulin injections: training Healthcare Support Workers to support older people with diabetes
It’s best practice for people with diabetes to look after their health by injecting their own insulin. As people get older, however, they are likely to have other conditions that make this harder or unsafe
Find out moreHarnessing health data to improve care for older people
When Dr Oliver Todd from the University of Leeds embarked on a Dunhill Medical Trust Research Training Fellowship aimed at finding out whether blood pressure management is linked to an increased risk of falls, it
Find out moreWe’re supporting community-facing organisations in new ways: Could you be next?
Following the success of our pilot Capability Development Scheme, we spoke to MKS consultant, Dan Fletcher, who helped us support seven organisations with fundraising, measuring their impact and financial sustainability. “It was clear that participants
Find out moreSupporting Age UK Lancashire to reimagine their fundraising
Our Capability Development Scheme supported seven organisations through challenging issues. We spoke to Alison Read, Director of Business Development for Age UK Lancashire, about how the scheme helped them transform their fundraising strategy. “You don’t
Find out moreSupporting Galloway’s Society of the Blind to tell stories about their impact
Our Capability Development Scheme supported seven organisations through challenging issues. We spoke to Rachel Watkinson, Head of Services and Development at Galloway’s Society of the Blind, about how the scheme gave them the confidence to
Find out moreCan the epigenetic clock predict musculoskeletal disease?
Almost two-thirds of people aged 65 and over live with musculoskeletal disease, but current methods of predicting who is most at risk have limited use. Through his DMT-funded PhD, academic clinician Dr Nicholas Fuggle made
Find out moreImproving the lives of people living in care homes through the power of storytelling
Clinical linguist Dr Lucy Dipper from City University researches the power of storytelling to improve older adults’ communication skills and wellbeing. She and her team set out to design and test the best way of
Find out moreMotivating stroke recovery through music making
After having a stroke, many people don’t feel like themselves because they’ve lost so much of what they used to be able to do. Lisa Rodio, from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, runs STOKESTRA®, a unique
Find out moreWhy does an infection after stroke cause worse disability?
Recovering from a stroke is hard enough yet many patients go on to get an infection, sometimes months into their recovery. For some of these patients, this can lead to more disability. Dr Rebecca Trueman,
Find out moreKeeping you moving with arthritis: an effective alternative to total knee replacement
The gold standard treatment for knee arthritis is a total joint replacement. Yet one in four who have this surgery are unhappy with results and continue to experience pain and discomfort. Dr Amy Garner, an
Find out moreStimulating the vagus nerve to improve gait in Parkinson’s
Falls are a major cause of lost independence in people with Parkinson’s. Dr Alison Yarnall is trialling a new method to reduce fall risk and improve walking in people with Parkinson’s, which involves non-invasive stimulation
Find out moreHospital, hospice or home? How social deprivation affects end of life care
End of life care is a sensitive but hugely important subject. Many people say that they would like to die at home rather than in hospital. Yet living in a more deprived area means you’re
Find out moreThe birds and the bees: Can enjoying nature promote health and wellbeing in older people?
There’s growing evidence that engaging with outdoor spaces promotes health and wellbeing across all ages. Yet as we get older, our changing abilities, motivations and means could prevent us from reaping the rewards of interacting
Find out moreGetting older people back on their feet after unplanned hospital admissions
When older people have unplanned hospital admissions, they often experience muscle strength loss. This can have long-lasting effects when they return home, meaning they’re not able to do everyday tasks that they were previously able
Find out moreTargeting CD148 to ‘switch off’ age-related diseases
Dr James Whiteford and his team at Queen Mary University of London are investigating how to activate a molecular ‘off switch’ that could slow or even reverse age-related diseases such as macular degeneration and lung
Find out moreReturning the pleasure of reading to people with dementia
Reading is one of life’s great pleasures, as well as being essential to many daily tasks. Sadly, difficulty reading is also one of the first symptoms of Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), a rare form of
Find out moreLooking in the right places to prevent stair falls in older adults
When and where someone looks, their level of confidence and visual cues in the environment around them all play a part in navigating stairs safely. Professor Mark Hollands and Dr Neil Thomas, from Liverpool John
Find out moreFinding the missing piece of the puzzle in age-related muscle loss
Despite affecting most people over the age of 50, we don’t really know why age-related muscle loss happens. Dr Katarzyna Goljanek-Whysall, now Senior Lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Galway but who led the
Find out moreUnderstanding the science behind Sjögren’s Syndrome
Sjögren’s syndrome is a disease where the immune system attacks healthy cells in the glands, leading to dry eyes and mouth but can affect other parts of the body such as joints, lungs, skin and
Find out moreNew steps to recovery for painful walking in older people
Supervised walking exercise is used to treat leg pain in older people caused by restricted blood flow. But it’s expensive for the NHS to provide and often difficult for patients to complete. Professor Lindsay Bearne
Find out moreLong-lived naked mole-rats are helping us understand healthy ageing
To understand how brains age, researchers often study short-lived rats and mice. Another rodent, the naked mole rat, lives for decades and ages healthily. Professor Ewan St. John Smith and his team are examining this
Find out moreSpotting dementia earlier in the deaf community using an automated screening tool
Within the older British Sign Language community, dementia can show itself as changes in the way someone signs – but these subtle changes are hard to spot by those who don’t use sign language. Dr
Find out moreCan ‘brain training’ pass the test? Exploring whether people with dementia can brain train at home
Brain training is a fun and simple intervention to keep minds active in older age. However, there are many unknowns. What benefits does it have on the brain? And can people living with dementia realistically
Find out moreTransforming care for older people by developing future leaders within community nursing
Summary: Community nurses are a diverse and essential part of care for older people. Developing community nurses to become leaders and changemakers empowers them to meet the changing and growing needs of older people. The
Find out moreFarming Comes to You – Finding togetherness for people with dementia through animals
Summary: People with dementia can sometimes struggle to communicate and build relationships with others, especially in care environments. Heeley City Farm, located in Sheffield, runs animal-assisted therapy sessions called ‘Farming Comes to You’, that help
Find out moreUsing primary care data to uncover markers of rapid disease progression in dementia
Dementia is a complex condition that can progress rapidly in some people. Professor Kelvin Jordan and Dr Michelle Marshall from Keele University are leading a team of researchers using routinely gathered patient data from GP
Find out moreTurning back the clock: Uncovering new therapies for age-related diseases
Published November 2020 When we talk about ageing, people often highlight the external signs. But there’s plenty more going on inside our bodies as we get older. Worn-out senescent cells accumulate within our tissues, pumping
Find out moreSkin wounds that won’t heal: can stem cells help where antibiotics can’t?
Skin wounds that won’t heal are a big problem, particularly for older people, and have a big impact on quality of life. However, current treatments and antibiotics aren’t very effective, running the risk of long-term,
Find out moreUsing genetic data to understand the causes of age-related macular degeneration
When investigating diseases of ageing and their causes, it can be very difficult, time-consuming and expensive to conduct randomised controlled trials. Instead, Drs Reecha Sofat and Valerie Kuan are using a technique called Mendelian Randomisation
Find out moreIMPACTAgewell® – Revolutionising the way that older people access healthcare
Older people may need support from a variety of health and social care providers. The IMPACTAgewell® project brings together a range of different providers to create a holistic model of care. They support older people
Find out moreWhat does ‘good care’ look like? Understanding the complex systems in care homes
Change is a common and necessary part of care environments – but what sort of culture within care homes leads to them adapting well to change? Dr Al Ross and his team wanted to understand
Find out moreCan music therapy protect cognitive functions in older people?
Music therapy can enhance people’s lives, and stimulate their minds. Dr Fabia Franco and her team are assessing the impact of music therapy on older people’s cognition through a randomised controlled trial. An important factor
Find out moreDropping the needle: developing a less invasive method to deliver drugs for age-related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is one of the biggest causes of sight loss in the UK – yet the only treatment available for the condition involves injections directly into the eye. Many patients are desperate for
Find out moreMaking the extra years count: understanding life expectancy in the context of years spent disability free
We know that people are living longer, but simply measuring life expectancy doesn’t tell us anything about the quality of life that older people are experiencing. In this research, Professor Carol Jagger and her team
Find out moreBetter research in care homes through collaboration
In this innovative community programme, co-funded with the Alzheimer’s Society, researchers will work in and with care homes to develop a model for research that is collaborative and effective.
Can 3D printing provide a better way to make dentures?
The techniques used to make dentures are labour-intensive, expensive, inaccurate and have remained largely unchanged for decades. Recent advances in technology now make it possible to create 3D printed dentures, so Dr Andrew Keeling is
Find out moreHow does ageing change our cartilage?
We know that the spongy cartilage between bones changes during ageing and osteoarthritis, but it’s not clear how these processes are related. By comparing what’s happening in cartilage cells at a molecular level during ageing
Find out moreDo fall-prevention exercise programmes benefit older people in the long term?
Specially-designed exercise programmes have been shown to help prevent older people from falling. However, we do not know how well these exercises benefit people in the longer-term. In her PhD studentship, Dr Susanne Finnegan followed
Find out moreUnderstanding how people use walking frames in their daily lives
Many older people use walking aids to get around, but there are questions over their effectiveness. Using technology to measure the stability of walking frame users in different environments, Dr Sibylle Thies was able to
Find out moreHow can we make sure that digital innovations in care work for older people?
Digital innovations and ‘smart’ homes are often seen as a way to provide more efficient care for older people. However, the evidence on whether these innovations actually work, or do what commissioners need them to,
Find out moreCare Home Friends and Neighbours Intergenerational Linking Project: linking older people in care homes with young people in their communities
Fostering relationships and links across generations can bring benefits to all. With matched funding from the National Lottery Community Fund #iwill campaign, the Dunhill Medical Trust is supporting projects that are establishing intergenerational links between
Find out moreDeveloping a way to measure the impact of our Community Grants
The Dunhill Medical Trust funds a wide range of projects within the Community Grants portfolio. This diversity means it is challenging to come up with a universal set of measures to evaluate their impact.
Uncovering ethnic inequalities in access to dementia care
There is a large amount of healthcare data available in the UK, and new statistical techniques are allowing researchers to analyse differences in dementia care between ethnic groups in detail for the first time. Professor
Find out moreUnderstanding the needs of older trans people in Wales: The Trans Ageing and Care project
Very little research has been done to understand the health and social care needs of older trans people, particularly those transitioning at an older age. Dr Paul Willis and his team wanted to understand the
Find out moreToo hot, too cold or just right? Thermal imaging in care homes
As we get older, our senses change, including our sensitivity to temperature. People living in care homes don’t have control over their environment, and may not be able to determine or communicate if they’re uncomfortably
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