{"id":1952,"date":"2026-06-25T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/from-italy-to-worcester-with-wheels-good-food-human-connection-and-research\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:30:00","slug":"from-italy-to-worcester-with-wheels-good-food-human-connection-and-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/from-italy-to-worcester-with-wheels-good-food-human-connection-and-research\/","title":{"rendered":"From Italy to Worcester, with wheels, good food, human connection and research"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week we hand over to Livia Wright, a visiting PhD student from Italy whose PhD is on \u2018Older adults living with mild to moderate dementia in northern Italy: experiences of diagnosis and community-based support\u2019. Over to you Livia\u2026<\/p>\n

While I was waiting to board the last flight to Birmingham, I mentally rehearsed the rest of the journey: Airlink to Birmingham New Street, lunch at the Vietnamese noodle place \u2013 delicious, highly recommended \u2013 train to Worcester Foregate Street, then walk home. The next morning: walk to the Jenny Lind building, but only after the very important academic ritual of a full British breakfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has become familiar\u201d, I thought.<\/p>\n

And it has. I visited the Association for Dementia Studies (ADS<\/a>) at the University of Worcester during three different stays \u2013 June 2025, March 2026 and June 2026 \u2013 all part of a three-month period abroad for my PhD. The 2025 visit was the \u201cTour\u201d visit: \u201cThe Big Social\u201d in Dundee and multiple Meeting Centres across Scotland, England and Wales. Means of transportation: a tiny, flaming red Fiat 500 (pictured) \u2013 I swear I did not ask for an Italian car. Mood: happy traveller.<\/p>\n

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To say the Meeting Centres I visited were welcoming is an understatement (if you\u2019re reading, thanks again!). At every visit, it took only a few minutes to feel at home. Each centre was different, but all shared the 11 essential features \u2013 plus, as the Food Glorious Food<\/em>\u00a0project by ADS has taught us, vital feature number 12: a good cup of coffee. You can read more about that project in a previous ADS blog post<\/a>. The visits reinforced my understanding of the importance of local engagement and the transformative power of simply being present with one another.<\/p>\n

My interest in Meeting Centres comes from my PhD, which explores the experiences of families living with dementia who attend community-based groups in Italy. As part of my fieldwork, I spent around five months in two groups, conducting ethnography, and I also interviewed families attending other groups. I am now in the very long and exhilarating-slash-tragic process of writing my thesis \u2013 the exact adjective depends very much on the day.<\/p>\n

For that reason, my two visits in 2026 have been memorable writing retreats. Having an office to work from is still a pleasant novelty for me, as I live far from my university and usually work from home. Even better has been having colleagues nearby to exchange ideas with during the day. I should mention that I have swapped the Fiat 500 for a far less impressive second-hand bicycle, which is very slow to brake (also pictured).<\/p>\n

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In March 2026, as mentioned in a previous Meeting Centre newsletter<\/a>, I returned to Dundee for Ron Coleman\u2019s memorial. Hearing him speak at \u201cThe Big Social\u201d had left such a profound mark on me that it felt right to make the journey and say farewell.<\/p>\n

I am also looking forward to presenting some of my PhD findings at the Postgraduate Research Conference at the University of Worcester at the end of June. After that, I will visit the Living Well with Dementia team at the University of the West of England in Bristol. It feels like a fitting way to bring this period abroad full circle before returning to my computer and the thesis-writing marathon.<\/p>\n

These visits have enriched my academic and practical understanding of dementia care and community support, and deepened my appreciation for the subtle beauty of everyday encounters. I will always treasure the stories, conversations and insights from this journey.<\/p>\n

A big GRAZIE\u00a0to the ADS team and the Meeting Centres UK family!<\/p>\n

Thanks to Livia for the blog, and we\u2019re glad she\u2019s had such a great experience during her visits.<\/p>\n

Connect with ADS on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn,<\/a>\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week we hand over to Livia Wright, a visiting PhD student from Italy whose PhD is on \u2018Older adults […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dementia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askneurology.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}