This evidence-based presentation, specifically designed for busy clinicians, aims to give an overview of the latest evidence and guidance on how to incorporate managing potential anti-cholinergic into day-to-day practice.
We are pleased to welcome Ian Maidment. Ian is a Professor in Clinical Pharmacy at Aston University. Prior to moving to Aston, he spent over 20 years working in the NHS predominantly in dementia, severe mental illness and community pharmacy, as a clinical pharmacist. He has published over 150 papers and regularly presents his work at international conferences. He is an experienced researcher: he has led seven NIHR/UKRI grants, been a co-applicant on numerous other grants and is a NIHR Senior Investigator. He has supervised five doctorates to completion plus 11 masters. He has been studying anti-cholinergic burden for nearly 20 years and has published numerous papers in this area.
This masterclass will also showcase two PhD research students: Olivia Donnelly and Clare Bates, Queen's University Belfast and Aston University. Olivia Donnelly will be presenting on "Realist EvaLuation of what works, for whom, and In what circumstances, to optimisE medication for people liVing alonE with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (RELIEVE)." Olivia graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in Summer 2024 with a First Class Honours degree in Pharmacy. She is now a registered Pharmacist with the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. Olivia began her PhD in October 2025 on the newly established Queen’s University Belfast – Aston University dual award PhD programme. Her PhD is adopting an increasingly used research method called “realism” to investigate how medication can be optimised for people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment who live alone. As part of the project, the often hidden burden experienced by family carers who support the medication use will also be explored. Clare Bates will be presenting on "How can the general public document if and when they would want to stop their life-prolonging medication should they later get dementia?" Clare qualified as a nurse in 1997 and has worked as a research nurse, intensive care nurse, a midwife and a care home nurse. She recognised an under-researched area of practice and decided to undertake a Research Internship which led to an NIHR Pre-Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship and now an NIHR Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship. The research is a mixed methods study involving a scoping review, survey for the general public and interviews for the general public and healthcare professionals.
