{"id":3334,"date":"2018-12-17T11:20:22","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T11:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=3334"},"modified":"2023-03-22T13:02:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T13:02:16","slug":"why-universities-saving-changing-and-enriching-lives-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2018\/12\/17\/why-universities-saving-changing-and-enriching-lives-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Universities are for saving, changing and enriching lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Alison Wray is a linguistics researcher focusing on ways of communicating with those with dementia.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a><\/p>\n

An academic researcher\u2019s work can be lonely hard graft: reading; thinking; investigating; writing. So it\u2019s rewarding when our work has tangible benefits beyond academia and we can say \u201cI\u2019m making a real difference\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the UK, someone will develop dementia every 3 minutes. It\u2019s a challenge Cardiff is responding to with truly inspirational work in genetics and neuroscience. It\u2019s increasingly recognised, however, that such diseases need to be addressed from more than one direction. My work in Cardiff\u2019s School of English, Communication and Philosophy demonstrates that there\u2019s tremendous scope to make a positive impact on dementia beyond the bounds of biological sciences.<\/p>\n

For the 850,000 people in the UK with dementia, communication can be stressful. Inability to lay down memories can leave them confused and agitated. It can also be enormously frustrating for the people conversing with them. But through my work on dementia communication, I\u2019ve seen how small changes can make an enormous difference.<\/p>\n