Nadine Mirza

Title: Improving access to memory services and an accurate dementia diagnosis for the British Urdu speaking population.

PhD summary

Estimated rates of dementia show that South Asians between the ages of 65-79 have the highest prevalence of dementia in the UK and second highest for those above 80. Despite this the referral rate for South Asians to memory clinics is low, the dropout rate is high, and they are more likely to avail assistance late into the progression of dementia.

With British South Asians not accessing memory clinics and not receiving an early dementia diagnosis research proposes exploring what barriers they face when accessing memory services. 

This research will consist of:

  • A service evaluation and audit of the cultural sensitivity of North West memory services and their provisions for ethnic minorities. This evaluation has been developed based on the NICE Guidelines and relevant literature.
  • Interviews with memory clinic staff in the North West on interacting with ethnic minority service users and their carers, particularly British South Asians. The interviews will focus on the issues staff faced working with minority service users and the barriers the service users experienced.
  • Interviews with carers of British South Asian service users who have been diagnosed by a North West memory clinics. The interviews will focus on the barriers carers faced navigating memory services and any facilitators they would have needed.

Dates

September 2017 – July 2023

Funding

Medical Research Council (MRC)

Institution name

The University of Manchester

Supervisors

Discipline area

Mental Health | Dementia Health Services

Short biography 

I graduated from the University of Manchester in 2015 with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and an MPhil in Primary Care Mental Health before working as a research assistant at the university’s Centre for Primary Care.

My work prior to my PhD focused on cognitive assessment for dementia in British South Asians, and the influence of language and culture on the perception of cognitive tests. 

In 2017 I was awarded a doctoral training partnership by the Medical Research Council for a PhD in Mental Health with the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research.

Alongside my research I am working as a research assistant with the School of Health and Society at the University of Salford on the CICA Project: Communities In Charge of Alcohol, and an Honorary Research Assistant with the Department of Clinical Neuropsychology at the Salford Royal NHS Trust on the IMAN Project: Improving Minorities Access to Neuropsychological services. 

Publications

Contact details

Email: nadine.mirza@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk