20/03/2026
SPIN-D Network Plus Special Interest Group on Rural and Coastal Communities
The SPIN-D Network Plus Rural and Coastal Special Interest Group (SIG) is set up with support from Empower Network Plus to connect people with lived experience, community organisations, practitioners and researchers focused on brain health, dementia prevention and dementia support in rural, remote, island and coastal communities.
Upcoming Activity
We are pleased to share the information about the first webinar of the Rurality Special Interest Group series on 26th March, 12:00-13:00.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/j/93743151558?pwd=SMPm9KLBhePexFGfz06Dv8JUSuCLpX.1
Meeting ID: 937 4315 1558
Password: 626707
Capturing rural lives: Using photography to share stories of dementia and caregiving
This webinar brings together artist and facilitator Ellie Robinson Carter, founder of The Photobook Project, and cognitive neuroscientist Professor Catherine Loveday to explore how photography can illuminate the lived experience of dementia.
First hear Ellie Robinson Carter as she shares the story of The Photobook Project which invites people living with dementia and their wider communities to capture their experiences in meaningful ways. In response to a chosen theme (like a season or a meaningful object), individuals take photographs on disposable cameras alongside other creative activities, such as writing poems, painting flowers or making cyanotypes. The often tender and breathtaking results are used to create a series of photobooks. Each collection is kept at the heart of the participating group’s community (for example, a community centre) and each individual is gifted a photobook of their choice.
In this webinar, the project’s Founder Ellie Robinson-Carter will reflect on how The Photobook Project has enabled people Iiving with dementia to showcase their experiences of rurality, including sharing examples of how the project has sparked and fostered intergenerational connection in relation to place and environment, as well as the remote engagement opportunities the project presents.
Second, we'll hear from Professor Catherine Loveday who will share her work on using photos to understand the experiences of caregivers in the UK, USA, Brazil and South Africa. Participants in each of the countries were asked to submit a selection of photos that represented what caring meant to them. These photos created the basis for one-to-one interviews with the caregiver, exploring the different ways in which they understand and navigate their roles. Interviews were carried out online sometimes by a research fellow (UK and USA) and sometimes by a local researcher supported by our team (Brazil and South Africa). In this webinar, Catherine will reflect on how this methodology facilitated connection with individuals with very diverse environments, living a long way from the research team, as well as some of the challenges the research team faced.
Following these short talks, we will welcome questions and support some discussion and networking.
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