Thank you for your interest in taking part in my public involvement group. On this webpage you will find out more about the project and how you can participate.

Who am I?

My name is Bethany McLoughlin and I’m a PhD student at Warwick Medical School. My research is about support groups for people that have been affected by dementia.

What is public involvement?

Public involvement is where researchers speak to members of the public to help them develop their research. I want to hear your views to ensure:

• The research topic is relevant and useful to people affected by dementia.
• The research study I am designing is easy to understand and take part in.

What would I have to do?

I'd like to hear from people that are:

• Living with dementia
• Caregivers of people living with dementia
• Support group facilitators

You would need to take part in two 45-minute meetings to discuss my research plans. These meetings would include a group of 3-5 people who have been affected by dementia.

The meetings would take place over Zoom and so to take part in the public involvement group, you need to be able to take part in a video call. If you have taken part in video calls before but you are unfamiliar with Zoom, I can help you with joining the call.

After each session you will be offered £15 in the form of a shopping voucher as a thank you for your time.

How do I sign up?

If you are interested in taking part, please contact me by email at Bethany.mcloughlin@warwick.ac.uk

In the email, please let me know:

• Your availability on Wednesday 21st September and Thursday 22nd September 2022
• Whether you a person with a diagnosis of dementia, a carer of someone living with dementia, or a dementia support group facilitator
• If you are someone with a diagnosis of dementia, please let me know if you would like a caregiver or supporter to take part in the call with you
• If there are any adjustments that I can make to make it easier or more comfortable for you to take part. I would be happy to have a phone call or video call pre-meeting with you to help you prepare for the full meeting.
• If you have any questions at all please let me know, I’d be happy to answer!

More information

Here is a proposed agenda of what will happen in the meetings so you know what to expect:

Meeting 1 - Wednesday 21st^th / Thursday 22nd September (time tbc)

• Self-Introductions (5 minutes)
• Summary of my PhD project (5 minutes)
• Group discussion (35 minutes) of these topics:
  - What questions would you want to ask people impacted by dementia about support groups?
  - What questions would you want to ask about online support groups?
  - How should I contact people impacted by dementia to take part in my research?

Meeting 2 - (End of September/Early October, date and time tbc)

• Refresher of what happened at the last meeting (5 minutes)
• Feedback on questionnaire I have made based on your views from the previous meeting (30 minutes)
• Feedback on other research materials (10 minutes)