Close
Social Science Plus Pilot Project 2023-24
Psychology + Dementia Epidemiology + Crime Science
Missing with dementia: Building the evidence base to better understand and reduce missing incidents involving people with dementia
More than 50 million people worldwide live with dementia. Going missing affects many people with dementia, and is a frightening and potentially harmful experience for people with dementia and their families. Presently, little is known about the prevalence, patterns and predictors of this problem, which is a barrier to prevention4. In this project, we will use (1) quantitative data to better understand missing incidents involving people with dementia and qualitative data to better understand lived experiences. Data collected will inform the development of future interventions to reduce missing incidents and associated harms.
Project’s aims and objectives
Combining quantitative and qualitative data, this project will generate vital information on the prevalence, patterns and predictors of missing incidents involving people with dementia, and generate actionable insights to inform future interventions.
The project will comprise three Work Streams:
Work Stream 1
Problem analysis. Analysing a large dataset of police recorded missing incidents, the objective of this workstream is to determine: (1) the extent and trend of missing incidents involving people with dementia, (2) the risk factors that increase the likelihood of (repeat) missing incidents (i.e., sex, age, living status) and (3) the extent and nature of harm (i.e., serious injury, death) experienced by people with dementia who go missing.
Work Stream 2
Lived experience. Through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders affected by missing incidents (i.e., people with dementia and their families, the police, charities, healthcare professionals, and care home staff), the objective of this workstream is to better understand (1) lived experiences of going missing with dementia, (2) current best practices to reduce (repeat) missing incidents and (3) identified challenges in preventing missing incidents to support people with dementia and their families.
Work Stream 3
Knowledge exchange and response development. Informed by the findings of Work Steams 1 and 2, we will host a Stakeholders’ workshop with the objective of (1) sharing experiences and best practice on missing incidents among people with dementia and ways to prevent them, and (2) identifying the key elements of interventions to be developed and evaluated in a future follow-up study.
Research Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Vasiliki Orgeta, Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health of Older People Division of Psychiatry, Brain Sciences
Non-Social Science Co-Investigator
Dr. Jean Stafford, Research Fellow, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing Population Science & Experimental Medicine, Population Health Sciences, UCL
Second Co-Investigator
Dr. Aiden Sidebottom, Associate Professor, Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, Engineering Sciences, UCL