Thanks to our amazing Join Dementia Research volunteers, during lockdown we have been able to continue recruiting participants to studies that don’t involve person-to-person contact. Thousands of you have taken part in important studies relating to COVID-19 and dementia.

Good sleep is critical for wellbeing – including dementia prevention and good mental health. But the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown is placing people under huge stress, which may disturb sleep. Disturbed sleep now may have an impact on current and future health for all, in particular those at risk of dementia. The SleepQuest study needs to hear about your experiences to understand the effect that the outbreak is having and create advice on how to manage sleep throughout this crisis and beyond.

Lockdown and social distancing are essential to help combat COVID-19, but adjusting can be difficult – especially for people living with dementia. That’s why researchers have developed a new leaflet with five simple tips, designed to help make things more manageable for anyone who currently lives with dementia or cares for someone who does. The leaflet gives practical and self-help tips on five key points, and has been created using the latest robust research with the input of people affected by dementia.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many of the face-to-face services people with dementia and their carers often rely on are temporarily closed. Researchers need your help to understand the impact of these closures on the wellbeing of people with dementia and their carers.

An update from Professor Martin Rossor, NIHR National Director for Dementia Research.

To mark the fifth anniversary of Join Dementia Research, we asked some of the people closest to the service to share their thoughts on how far Join Dementia Research has come.

Today, Monday 24 February 2020, Join Dementia Research celebrates its fifth birthday. We’re not asking for gifts or cards for our fifth birthday. Instead, you can help us celebrate by sending a digital greeting card to someone you know who might be interested in research.

The Global Brain Health Survey is an anonymous online survey to learn about people’s views on the brain and brain health. Researchers hope that gathering the opinions and attitudes of people worldwide could help shape future policy recommendations to help everyone take care of their brain in a way that fits their daily life. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, and anyone over the age of 18 can participate.

The NIHR Clinical Research Network has launched a new online course called ‘What is Health Research?’. The three week Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, is aimed at anyone with a keen interest in learning more about the world of health research. Learners can complete the course at their own pace for free, starting on Monday 11 November 2019.

A recent study has found that the risk of dying from neurodegenerative disease is almost 3.5 times higher for footballers. However research is at an early stage and there’s currently no suggestion that anyone should stop playing football. Regular physical activity – including football – is a good way to reduce the risk of dementia and conditions such as heart disease.