PhD student Olivia Russell

Olivia wants to:

Improve pre-diagnostic care experiences of people with Lewy body dementia

People living with Lewy body dementias often face longer and more complex pathways to diagnosis than those living with other forms of dementia.

Accurate diagnosis is important to ensure appropriate treatment and to understand the likely progression.

Tell us about your project

Visiting a GP or primary care provider is often the first step in diagnosing Lewy body dementia. They can then refer someone to secondary services, such as memory or movement disorder services. Through this system, primary care providers act as gatekeepers and play an important role in ensuring patients can access the correct secondary care services. The services and providers people see during a diagnosis are called pathways.

My research project aims to further understand the primary care pathways of individuals diagnosed with Lewy body dementias, and what might affect these pathways. I will perform statistical analysis of primary care data, comparing pathways of people diagnosed with Lewy body dementia with those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.  

The next stage will involve discussions with people diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, their families, carers and primary care practitioners. All this data will be used to identify potential factors that may impact the primary care pathway.

How will this research impact people living with dementia?

Further understanding of the primary care experiences of people with Lewy body dementia could inform the development or adaptation of existing tools for use in primary care, improving the diagnostic process and the overall diagnostic experience for people living with Lewy body dementia.

What does it mean to you to be a part of this Doctoral Training Centre?

Being involved in an Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centre means that I can build vital research skills and make a difference through the work I am conducting, but also that I can make connections with other early career researchers and be part of a research community.  

I am particularly excited about making connections and building relationships with early career researchers in different fields of dementia research.