Interactions between Cognitive Impairment & Transport in Urban Environments
Study Code / Acronym
IN-CITUAward Number
222193/Z/20/ZAward Type
Research Fellowships in Humanities and Social ScienceStatus / Stage
ActiveDates
8 September 2021 -8 September 2024
Duration (calculated)
03 years 00 monthsFunder(s)
Wellcome TrustFunding Amount
£175,664.00Funder/Grant study page
Wellcome TrustContracted Centre
University of ManchesterPrincipal Investigator
Dr James FletcherPI ORCID
0000-0001-9610-1858WHO Catergories
Tools and methodologies for interventionsDisease Type
Dementia (Unspecified)CPEC Review Info
| Reference ID | 323 |
|---|---|
| Researcher | Reside Team |
| Published | 12/06/2023 |
Data
| Study Code / Acronym | IN-CITU |
|---|---|
| Award Number | 222193/Z/20/Z |
| Status / Stage | Active |
| Start Date | 20210908 |
| End Date | 20240908 |
| Duration (calculated) | 03 years 00 months |
| Funder/Grant study page | Wellcome Trust |
| Contracted Centre | University of Manchester |
| Funding Amount | £175,664.00 |
Abstract
Novel social and cognitive science, approaching people and places as indivisible assemblages, challenges dementia research’s traditional humanism (people as exceptional entities) and neuroreductionism (brains as cognitive supercomputers). However, these traditional ideas permeate current “dementia-friendly” strategies, positing that agentic persons inhabit inactive spaces. Resulting initiatives assume that architectural refinement will maximise individuals’ intrinsic cognitive capacities, overlooking the complex distribution of cognition throughout evolving atmospheric spaces. They often lack user perspectives and sophisticated theoretical grounding. In response, I will combine cutting-edge scholarships to explore cognition-environment relations through a sensory ethnography of Manchester’s public transport, a target for dementia-friendly initiatives. I will accompany 25 passengers with dementia, documenting the journeys through interviewing, fieldnotes, photography and mapping. Participants will capture photographs and videos for an exhibition across the transport network. The exceptionally rich dataset, comprised of audio-visual media, sensory ethnographic data and maps, will be made available to future researchers. The project will challenge outdated assumptions in dementia research and policy, developing proposals for improving each. It aligns with policy priorities and will propose service improvements in collaboration with key stakeholders. It will generate an unprecedented open-access dataset for analysing dementia-friendliness and cognition-environment relations, and pioneer methods for inclusive ecological dementia research.
Aims
I will document the journeys through interviews, photography and route maps, and support participants to capture photographs and videos, to be exhibited across the transport network, raising awareness of life with dementia in public settings. The project will inform service improvements in collaboration with local government and local residents with dementia. It will also generate a valuable open-access dataset for future researchers working on dementia-friendliness, cognition and urban environments.