Dr Clarissa Giebel PhD

Personal Statement

My research focuses on enabling people living with dementia to live well and independently at home for as long as possible, whilst addressing inequalities in accessing the right care. For this, I am working with a number of national and international collaborators, in the Netherlands, Colombia, Chile, Australia, Uganda, Poland, and UAE and have published 100 papers in the field. As part of my international collaborations, I am leading the European INTERDEM Taskforce on Inequalities in Dementia Care.

I am the Principal Investigator on a number of dementia and health inequalities projects, including funded studies as PI by the ESRC Newton Fund (Understanding the impact of political and stressful life events on the mental health of older Colombians); Alzheimer's Society (health inequalities in dementia care in the UK and the Netherlands); NIHR (Unmet mental health needs in paid and unpaid carers); and the ODA Seedfund (exploring the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on the mental health of older adults in Uganda, Colombia, and India).

I have led the first Covid-19 dementia study in the country, exploring the effects of social service closures on the lives of people with dementia and unpaid carers living in the community. The study is published extensively, with key findings here (Impact of COVID-19 on dementia social care - Aging & Mental Health). We are also working with Italy, India, Poland, and Australia to conduct the same study there and compare data. In addition, we explored the changes in care provision during the pandemic and how safe visitation had been affected, key findings here: (Are we allowed to visit now? Age & Ageing).

I am also the developer and organiser of the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum, hosting bi-monthly free public seminars and bringing together lived and professional experts in the field, and am running my own science podcast into ageing - The Ageing Scientist podcast.

As primary and secondary supervisor of a number of PhD and DClin projects in dementia and ageing, I am open to taking on additional postgrad students.