HOMEDEM Training School 2
The second HOMEDEM Training School was held in Eindhoven this past January and hosted by the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).
Highlights of the programme included:
Lectures and Workshops with experts on design and research methods in dementia care (e.g., participatory design, co-design, early innovations, interview strategies).
Applied sessions aimed to help early career researchers navigate their way through intensive study – with devoted time to topics such as open science and career development.
Interactive networking opportunities were offered throughout the week. Early in the training school, doctoral candidates from the HOMEDEM consortium presented their research project plans to project supervisors, which served as a starting point for receiving feedback or stimulating conversation in the days ahead.
A dedicated day was offered to host INTERDEM academy members, and opportunities to present research projects and make connections beyond the HOMEDEM consortium were provided.
Valuable time with important stakeholders and our target audience. Opportunities included visiting a dementia-friendly cafe in the local neighborhood, spending time with daycare participants (people with dementia and their partners), and Q&A with notable co-researchers diagnosed with dementia.
Feedback from doctoral candidates about the week underscored the importance of exposure to multidisciplinary views and conversation opportunities offered during this training school. Thoughts from the doctoral candidates about the Training School experience are shared below:
“The training school has been an invaluable platform for networking and learning within our consortium's dementia research community. Through a variety of workshops and seminars, I've had the opportunity to connect with fellow researchers and consortium partners. I really enjoyed the poster presentation sessions, where HOMEDEM and INTERDEM researchers exchanged ideas and knowledge enriching our respective projects. I am grateful to the organizers for providing such enriching opportunities”.
Sunny Chai, University of Aveiro, Portugal
“TS2 was a great opportunity to bridge theoretical knowledge with real-world encounters with individuals living with dementia and the care ecosystem surrounding them. We gained invaluable insights by listening to the diverse needs and lived experiences of those affected by dementia, but also the experiences of those providing formal care and community-based services”.
Andrea Nakakawa Bernal, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
“I enjoyed the applied perspective of the training school, where we learnt about the warm technology and products such as homing compass. My favorite moment was stopping by a dementia-friendly caffe where we learnt how much people with dementia appreciate being active in the community and how this can contribute to their well-being”.
Ajda Flisar, KU Leuven, Belgium
“With a rich program blending workshops on warm technology, AI, and participatory research, it was a hive of interactive learning across various themes. This gathering was not just about knowledge exchange; it fostered invaluable interdisciplinary dialogue and networking”.
Rising Lai, LUCA School of Arts, Belgium
“HOMEDEM Training Schools give an incredible opportunity to exchange your ideas with other researchers, from various fields, thus broadening your own perspectives and bringing inspiration to try out novel approaches that worked well in other disciplines. I also like it that those schools always include sessions that help us to deal with various challenges that we may encounter in our careers as researchers. This time, for example, we had a session on career development, which was very helpful in terms of looking at various potential professional pathways that can be undertaken once our PhD projects are completed”.
Marine Markaryan, Maastricht University, Netherlands
We look forward to our next HOMEDEM Training School, hosted by the Politecnico di Milano, taking place in Milan this coming May. The thematic focus will be on policymaking and care ecosystems.
