The ESRC EquaDem Network Plus aims to improve disparities in diagnosis and care
Dementia researchers from the University of Liverpool have been awarded £1.5m to establish the first-ever national network for dementia inequalities in diagnosis and care.
The new network is just one of four dementia networks that have benefited from £5.5m funding from the Alzheimer’s Society, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Affecting more than 944,000 people in the UK, dementia is a neurodegenerative condition that affects the ability to remember, think or make decisions in everyday life.
For those living with the condition, as well as their unpaid carers, many inequalities can often be faced when accessing care and obtaining an assessment and diagnosis.
The University of Liverpool’s Institute of Population Health’s senior research fellow, Dr Clarissa Giebel, will lead the network in collaboration with Dame Louise Robinson, regius professor of ageing, Newcastle University, to unite a network of people with academic, professional and lived experience and expertise in dementia.
Liverpool’s ESRC Equalities in Dementia (EquaDem) Network Plus aims to develop solutions to combat challenges in dementia diagnosis and care and to impact clinical and social care practice.
By creating a community of research and practice that comprises seven universities, two national dementia charities, health and social care professionals and lived experts, and the University College London-based NIHR-funded ‘Dementia Researcher’, the network aims to identify solutions to inequalities linked to knowledge mobilisation internships and pilot projects as part of a wider strategy to communicate research findings to a range of audiences and policymakers who will focus on implementing their recommendations.
Giebel commented: “We are already working regionally to bring together opinions, knowledge and voices to address these inequalities and I’m delighted that we can now do this nationally.”
“This network grant provides a unique opportunity to focus both on co-developing solutions with the people who experience these and also to mentor and support our next generation of dementia care researchers,” said Robinson.

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