Findings

Findings from each of DeNPRU-QM’s projects will be added to this page as they become available. If you are unable to access any of the links, please email denpru@qmul.ac.uk for support.

Select a project to find out more. You can read a summary of each project on the ‘Projects’ page of the website.

In July 2026, we published a paper in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry exploring attitudes towards brain health and dementia risk reduction among minoritised ethnic communities in the UK (1), along with an accompanying policy brief (2). We analysed data from two national surveys conducted by Alzheimer’s Research UK and found that ethnic disparities exist in dementia knowledge, stigma, and awareness of risk factors. Our findings highlight the need for cultural competency in public health campaigns, and opportunities to incorporate dementia education within chronic disease management strategies.

  1. Atefi, G. et al. (2026) Attitudes Towards Brain Health and Dementia Risk Reduction Among Minoritised Ethnic Communities in the United Kingdom: A Cross-Sectional Survey Analysis,” Int J Geriatr Psychiatry (2026): e70238. Available at:  https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.70238.

  2. Brown, J. et al. (2026) Attitudes towards brain health and dementia risk reduction in minoritised ethnic groups (Policy Brief). Available at: https://doi.org/10.17636/101131554

In January 2026, we published The Nottingham consensus on dementia risk reduction policy in Nature Reviews Neurology (1) along with an accompanying policy brief (2).

In 2025, our YouGov poll asked over 1,700 adults about their knowledge of, and attitudes towards, dementia, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. We have published the full poll findings and a policy brief (3), as well as an editorial for the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (4).

  1. Demnitz-King, H. et al. (2026) The Nottingham consensus on dementia risk reduction policy: recommendations from a modified Delphi process. Nat Rev Neurol 22, 123–135. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41582-025-01173-9

  2. Demnitz-King, H. et al. (2026) The Nottingham consensus on dementia risk reduction policy: recommendations from a modified Delphi process (Policy Brief). Queen Mary University of London. Available at: doi.org/10.17636/101108351

  3. Kenten, C. et al. (2025) Public opinion on primary prevention of dementia, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. Queen Mary University of London. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17636/101104341

  4. Thomson, A. et al. (2025) Prevention Is Better Than Cure: Public Understanding of Preventing Neurodegenerative Disorders. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 40: e70038. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.70038

Our national surveys provide a valuable insight into service provision across England. We have completed surveys focused on diagnosis and care in English memory services (1), older people’s community mental health teams (2) and multiple sclerosis specialist services (3). We will publish results from our primary care, home care and care home surveys in 2026.

  1. Kelsey, O. et al. (2026) A national survey of dementia diagnosis and care in English memory services. BMC Geriatr 26, 406. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-07155-w

  2. Muralidhar, M. et al. (2026) National survey of older people’s community mental health teams in England, BJPsych Open, 12(1), p. e50. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2025.10958

  3. Zabihi, S. et al. (2025) Implementing Disease Modifying Therapies in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Lessons From a Survey of Multiple Sclerosis Specialist Services Across England. Preprint available at Research Square: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7924929/v1

Read our statistical analysis plan for this project on the Open Science Framework (1).

  1. Zabihi, S. et al. (2025). Comorbidities in Chronic Neurological Disorders (CCND): Diagnosis, Management and Mortality of Co-occurring Conditions [online]. Available at: https://osf.io/s682e

Professor Liz Sampson and colleagues published ‘Delirium Matters: priorities and opportunities for health and social care policy in England’ in April 2025. The findings are available as a full report (1) and a policy brief (2).

  1. Sampson, E. et al. (2025) Delirium Matters: priorities and opportunities for health and social care policy in England. Queen Mary University of London. Available at: doi.org/10.17636/101106092

  2. Sampson, E. et al. (2025) Delirium Matters: priorities and opportunities for health and social care policy in England (Policy Briefing). Queen Mary University of London. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17636/101106093

We have published four evidence reviews of training and education programmes for the multidisciplinary health and social care workforce, three focused on dementia care and one focused on care for people with chronic neurological disorders.

Our policy brief (1) summarises findings and recommendations from all three reviews focused on dementia care. Each review focused on a different audience: health and social care students (2), healthcare professionals (3), and the social care workforce (4). We have also published an Easy Read summary (5) of our review of training for healthcare staff.

Finally, you can read a preprint of our review of training specific to four neurological disorders (6): stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and motor neurone disease.

  1. Kenten, C. et al. (2025) Enhancing Training for Healthcare and Social Care Workers in England (Policy Brief). Queen Mary University of London. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17636/101107699

  2. Muralidhar, M. et al. (2025), Dementia Education and Training for the Multidisciplinary Student Healthcare Workforce: A Systematic Review. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 40: e70119. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.70119

  3. Zabihi, S. et al. (2025) Dementia training for healthcare professionals: A systematic policy and evidence review. International Psychogeriatrics, 37(6), p. 100088. Available at: https://www.intpsychogeriatrics.org/article/S1041-6102(25)00326-6/fulltext

  4. Delray, S. et al. (2024) Systematic policy and evidence review to consider how dementia education and training is best delivered in the social care workforce, and how policy does or can enable its implementation in England. Preprint available at medRxiv; https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.24.24312532v2

  5. Zabihi, S. et al. (2026). Dementia training for healthcare staff: Easy Read. Queen Mary University of London. Available at: http://doi.org/10.17636/101130412

  6. Kelsey, O. et al. (2025) Systematic evidence and policy review of how education and training best equips the care workforce for people with chronic neurological disorders. Preprint available at Research Square: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7966163/v1

Our policy brief summarises findings from interviews with people living with a neurodegenerative disease in England about their experiences of accessing social care needs assessments.

  1. Giebel, C. et al. (2026). Social care needs assessments (SCNA) for people with neurodegenerative diseases in England: planning for the future (Policy Brief). Queen Mary University of London. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17636/101130413

In June 2026, we published a pre-print of the first study from project 10, which focuses on ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities (1).

  1. Mathlin, G. (2026) Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in health and social care utilisation among people with dementia: a population-based study. Preprint available at medRxiv: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.04.26354916v1

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is one of our cross-cutting themes, so were delighted to publish two companion articles in Nature Reviews Neurology outlining our PPI strategy. The first is written by three of our public co-applicants (1), and the second provides an academic perspective (2) on moving towards meaningful patient and public engagement.

Our responsive work to date has included updating a systematic review about subjective memory complaints (3) and a report exploring the percentage of dementia cases in England that may be preventable through modification of risk factors (4).

  1. Horne, R., Phillips, R. & Rauf, M.A. (2025) Nothing about us, without us — establishing a patient and public involvement and engagement group. Nat Rev Neurol 21, 123–124. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-025-01063-0

  2. Dobson, R. et al. (2025) Moving towards meaningful patient and public engagement. Nat Rev Neurol 21, 121–122. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-025-01061-2

  3. Shaw, J. et al. (2025) Prevalence of memory complaints in the absence of objective symptoms in clinical populations: systematic review update. Preprint available at Research Square: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8165369/v1

  4. Mukadam, N. (2025) Dementia Population Attributable Fractions (PAF) for England (Prevention Theme responsive report). Queen Mary University of London. Available at: http://doi.org/10.17636/101107134