Co-Producing Dementia Awareness Education with Black Communities: A Partnership between Academia and Sheffield Memory Hub University of Bradford in United Kingdom

Dementia is a significant global health challenge, particularly in the context of population ageing and persistent health inequalities. In the UK, Black African and Caribbean communities are disproportionately affected by under-diagnosis, limited access to treatment, and gaps in post-diagnostic care, despite evidence of elevated risk and unmet needs. Many families in these communities seek help only at crisis points and often turn first to trusted community and faith-based organisations rather than statutory health services, leading to missed opportunities for early intervention and widening disparities across the dementia care pathway.

Recent research highlights that these inequalities are driven by structural barriers, cultural stigma, and a lack of culturally tailored dementia education. While some awareness campaigns for ethnic minority communities have shown promise—especially those using personal storytelling, community languages, and faith-based framing—formal evaluation is limited, and no intervention has been specifically designed for African and Caribbean communities in the UK. Community organisations are well positioned to deliver dementia awareness due to their trust and cultural insight, but they often lack access to evidence-based resources and specialist expertise.

This fully funded PhD studentship, part of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership and developed in collaboration with Sheffield Memory Hub, directly addresses these gaps. The project aims to co-design, develop, and evaluate culturally appropriate dementia educational materials to improve awareness and support earlier help-seeking within African and Caribbean communities. The research will explore three key questions: perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes toward dementia; collaborative design of culturally resonant education resources; and feasibility and acceptability of co-produced materials for delivery through community-based organisations.

The project adopts a participatory design across three sequential phases:

• Phase 1: Scoping Review – Mapping and synthesising existing literature on dementia perceptions within African and Caribbean communities in the UK and comparable contexts, following JBI and PRISMA-ScR guidance. This phase will identify key knowledge gaps and inform the co-design process.
• Phase 2: Co-Design Workshops – Using experience-based co-design principles, the student will work with people living with dementia, carers, professionals, and voluntary and faith-based organisations to develop culturally resonant educational materials. Creative participatory methods such as storytelling will surface lived experiences and cultural understandings. Materials may include videos, leaflets, conversation guides, and community talks. Data will be analysed thematically using the PEN-3 Cultural Model alongside an intersectional lens.
• Phase 3: Feasibility and Acceptability Study – Piloting the co-produced materials with African and Caribbean community members affected by dementia to assess feasibility, acceptability, usability, and sustainability. Qualitative focus groups and staff interviews will be complemented by basic quantitative indicators (e.g., attendance, satisfaction, self-reported learning).

Findings will be integrated through framework synthesis to generate both theoretical and practice-relevant insights. The close partnership with Sheffield Memory Hub ensures strong real-world impact by embedding the research within trusted community networks and existing service pathways.

This studentship offers an excellent opportunity to conduct meaningful, community-engaged research with clear potential to reduce dementia inequalities and inform culturally competent practice at scale. The appointed candidate will receive full funding from the ESRC, including tuition fees, a stipend at UKRI rates (£21,805 in 2026/7, increases each year), and access to a Research Training Support Grant for travel and research costs. The PhD is open to both UK and International applicants, though there is a limit to the number of International students funded each year.

Entry requirements include a relevant Masters degree or equivalent. Applicants without a Masters are also welcome to apply; if selected, they must complete and pass the MSc Social Sciences Research for Healthcare degree before progressing to the PhD, which will also be funded. Applications should be submitted via the University of Bradford website, specifying the project title in the 'Research Proposal' section.

The University of Bradford is committed to inclusion, equality of opportunity, and addressing systemic inequality and disadvantages experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic staff and students. Positive action measures are in place to address under-representation at the postgraduate researcher level.

For further information and to apply, visit the project page on FindAPhD.