LEND

Real-life stories may bring comfort, guidance, and hope to carers and people living with dementia. We are working with those affected to create an online resource to share helpful experiences. We are funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The study is sponsored by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

What do you wish we all knew about dementia?

Which stories have helped you?

How easy is it to find stories that feel relevant to you?

In a recent workshop at the University of Nottingham our lived-experience panel chatted about the challenges that they face and the stories that have been helpful (and unhelpful!) to them. Find out what we learnt.

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The promise and perils of conversational agents.

Author: Tom Lodge20 August 2025

In our most recent Lived Experience Advisory Panel workshop we presented a very early stage prototype to kickstart discussions about possible features of the LEND intervention. Participants were asked to use the prototype to ‘bookmark’ up to four narratives that they felt were valuable. They were asked to use two approaches to discover narratives: i. Structured browsing: an interface with thumbnails of videos alongside titles and summaries, with filters to refine the list of available videos and ii. A conversational interface that provides clips from narratives in response to discussions.

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What is in a Narrative?

Author: Tom Lodge20 August 2025

In our most recent Lived Experience Advisory Panel workshop we discussed the value of dementia narratives. Which features of a narrative are most likely to shape impact? In this short article we cover some of the insights from the session: thinking about what subjects and themes narratives might cover, who they're for, who is telling them and how they should be delivered.

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Distressing narratives.

Author: Tom Lodge20 August 2025

In the most recent Lived Experience Advisory Panel, we learned how narratives may cause distress when they are poorly aligned with users' circumstances, expectations, or identities. Rather than offer support, they may cause frustration or feelings of exclusion. How might we design to mitigate this risk?

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