TCAID: In Focus

At a recent Seanad Eireann Debate on 9th March 2022, Prof Mary McCarron, Executive Director and Prof Sean Kennelly, Clinical Director of the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service were acknowledged for the significant work they have done around brain health and dementia. This was preceded by the All Party Oireachtas Group Brain Health and Dementia Briefing in Leinster House on 8th March 2022 where political representatives heard from speakers Professor Mary McCarron, Professor Sean Kenneally Professor Iracema Leroi, Mr Kevin Quaid, and Ms Samantha Taylor about the importance of Brain Health.

A highlight of the Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2022 was a symposium focusing on the involvement of people with intellectual disabilities in research. This session included presentations from Dr Karen Mogendorff, advisor participation in research, Healthy Ageing with Intellectual Disabilities (HA-ID), Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Ms Christina Corr, research assistant at the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability. The symposium was very interactive, with a lively and in-depth discussion about including people with intellectual disabilities in research, both as participants and as researchers. Read more.

Ms. Una Coates is an online Operation Transformation Leader 2022. She is from Clondalkin and is an active member of Inclusion Ireland and the Special Olympics.Una aims to inspire her peers and colleagues with her leadership and her journey. She is very proud of taking part and is delighted with the example she is setting for others and other Special Olympian athletes in Ireland.To show support for her journey and to acknowledge the leadership Una is demonstrating the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability (TCAID) held a physical activity class at the Trinity College Dublin Sports Centre on Tuesday 15th February 2022. Una attended with her colleagues and friends from Stewarts Care Ltd. and Special Olympics. She found the event exhilarating and was delighted with the show of support for her inspiring journey.

International collaboration enables researchers to access additional, often specific, expertise, gain new perspectives on research and build relationships with others in the field, which for early stage researchers can be key to career development. TCAID was honoured to welcome Ms Laura Garcia Dominguez to Ireland form University of Salamanca to undertake a research internship under the supervision of Professor Mary McCarron.

Digi-ID is a pan-European partnership that addresses the challenge of digital inclusion and digital literacy among people with intellectual disabilities. Digi-ID is an EIT Health funded multidisciplinary project involving partners from Ireland, France, Sweden, and The Netherlands who are experts in education, health, and technology. The project is developing an innovative digital skills education programme, delivered via an accessible solution/app, using an inclusive co-creation process with approximately 250 adults with intellectual disability, supporters, professionals and families/carers.

As part of Palliative Care Week, Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability (TCAID) hosted online webinar with the support of AIIHPC - Supporting people with an intellectual disability at end-of-life: Making the care conversation meaningful

COVID-19 placed enormous strain on health systems around the world, undermining the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare workers. Anecdotal accounts from intellectual disability services suggested that there were significant pressures on staff, as the public health restrictions imposed on vulnerable people resulted in changes to routines, staffing and work patterns. Furthermore, the fact that many people with intellectual disabilities have increased vulnerability to more negative effects of COVID-19, with significantly higher mortality rates, caused considerable concern. It was against this backdrop and a dearth of research on the mental health of staff working with people with intellectual disability that this study was undertaken

Rosemary is a registered pharmacist and joined IDS TILDA in Autumn 2016. She commenced her PhD in 2017 with IDS TILDA and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin under the supervision of Associate Prof Martin Henman and Assistant Prof Maire O’Dwyer. Rosemarys research focuses on medication use associated with mental health and behavioural problems in older adults with epilepsy and an intellectual disability in Ireland.

Dr Maureen Death is a Research Fellow with School of Psychology, NUI Galway and the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin. Maureens research interests are health inequalities , health assessments and intellectual disability. Maureen completed her PhD with IDS TILDA in 2021 and her research focused on Family Carers of Older People with Intellectual Disability in Ireland and the Social Policy Context of their Caregiving.

The Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability values diversity in the workplace, as it adds strength to the overall research team, providing opportunities, which promotes success and learning, strengtening the path of research. The benefits of being in employment are well documented, however, unemployment is a critical issue for people with intellectual disability. Professor Mary McCarron was awarded the inaugural HRB Impact Award in 2019, which has enabled the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability to provide specific employment opportunities to people with an intellectual disability. Supported by Ms Holly Dennehy, Christina joins Ms Mei Lin Yap, Ambassador Liaison Officer to discuss Christinas new role with the centre and what Christina and Mei Lin like to do in their spare time to keep their brains healthy.

Andrew studied psychology and economics at Trinity College Dublin, before completing a PhD in Psychology at Cardiff University and has worked as a researcher at University College Cork (at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science, and APC Microbiome Ireland) and at Maynooth University (at the Department of Psychology). Andrew is the current chair of the Irish Research Staff Association and the communications officer of Trinity Research Staff Association. Click here to read our interview with Andrew where he discusses his interest in dementia in people with ID, the impact he would like his research to have, his interests outside TCAID and what hes looking forward to post COVID-19

Get Wise About Your Health is an EIT Health funded citizen engagement project and has been developed as a solution to promote the knowledge and confidence of individuals with intellectual disability about managing their own health. Get Wise is a digital health education platform, which has been co-created and co-developed by people with intellectual disability, together with researchers from Trinity College Dublin and Erasmus MC in the Netherlands. The course is aimed at individuals with intellectual disability to learn more about keeping healthy. The first module is ‘Get Wise About Visiting the Doctor’ which will provide the learner with experiences on how to prepare, what to expect and how to get the best out of the experience. The second module is ‘Get Wise About Your Bone Health’ which provides the learner with useful hints and tips on how to keep their bones healthy. The material is delivered using reasonable adjustments and easy read. Due to COVID-19, initial data collection plans were no longer feasible and all data collection was moved to online interviews. Click here to read more about Get Wise.

Brendan is a PhD student with the Trinity Centre for Ageing in Intellectual Disability (TCAID). The focus of his dissertation is social frailty among older adults with an ID. Brendan is a Teaching Fellow on the Intellectual Disability Programme in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin. Further to obtaining a BSc in Intellectual Disability Nursing, he successfully completed a MSc in Intellectual Disability Nursing Practice.