Professor Claire Surr

Professor Leeds Beckett University

  • Leeds West Yorkshire

Her research addresses care and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them.

Contact

Leeds Beckett

View more experts managed by Leeds Beckett

Social

Biography

Professor Claire Surr is Professor of Dementia Studies and Director of the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University. Her research addresses care and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them. She has a particular interest in designing and implementing interventions and approaches to improving formal dementia care services and care - with a focus on care homes and general hospitals. Her work explores care experiences and the support needs of people with both cancer and dementia and interventions to support care home staff to deliver high quality dementia care.

Claire is internationally recognised for her research and academic leadership around dementia education and training for the health and social care workforce, having led a national study examining the factors associated with effective training design, delivery and implementation. The findings are embedded within UK and international governmental and practice guidance on dementia education and training and are being implemented in the design and delivery of dementia training by health and social care providers globally. She is a member of the National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit (NIHR RfPB) Yorkshire and the Humber, NIHR Research for Social Care funding panel and a member of the Alzheimer’s Society funding panels.

Areas of Expertise

General Hospitals
Social Care
Patient Support
Carers
Dementia
Care Homes
Training in Dementia Care
Alzheimer’s Disease

Accomplishments

Educate North and UK Leadership Awards – Research team of the Year (EPIC Trial)

2017

Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

2016

National Teaching Fellow

2014

Show All +

Education

University of Bradford

PhD

Division of Dementia Studies

2004

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

University of Bradford

PG Dip

Division of Nursing

2008

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

University of Bradford

BA (Hons)

Interdisciplinary Human Studies

1998

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Affiliations

  • National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit : Yorkshire and the North East Funding Panel Member
  • Alzheimer’s Funding Board
  • National Institute for Health Research, Research for Social Care Funding : Panel Member
  • Sporting Memories Foundation : Patron
  • Journal of Dementia Care : Advisory Board Member

Languages

  • English

Media Appearances

Caring Dementia Care in Care Homes

Dementia Research Charity Chatathon  online

2022-12-02

Recorded at the Dementia Research Charity #Chatathon 2022 - Adam Smith interviews Professor Claire Surr, Professor of Dementia Studies at Leeds Beckett University and Dr Victoria Shepherd, Senior Research Fellow, Cardiff University.

View More

Leeds Beckett Research To Be Shared In Top Alzheimer Report

The Carer  online

2022-09-21

Professor Claire Surr, from the Centre for Dementia Research, School of Health, led the team who carried out the research: “Having staff with the knowledge and skills to deliver good dementia care is a priority and research has shown that education and training can help staff feel more confident about dementia care and improve their knowledge and skills, which can lead to better care. Our research identifies the approaches to training design and delivery that lead to staff having the right knowledge, attitudes, and approaches to delivering dementia care and the best outcomes for people with dementia and their families.

View More

How can we best support those with dementia and cancer

Leeds Church Institute  online

2019-12-12

Today’s podcast is taken from our recent event for people who live or work with those diagnosed with dementia. Professor Claire Surr presents the finding of a study that the Department of Dementia Studies at Leeds Met University recently completed looking at the support needs of people with dementia who also have cancer. This is an area that has been under-researched, despite the fact that there are a lot of people living with both conditions.

View More

Show All +

Articles

Understanding the experiences and psychosocial support needs of caregivers of people with comorbid dementia and cancer

Psychology and Health

2022

Family carers of people living with comorbid dementia and cancer (CDC) play a vital supportive role, but this may be particularly burdensome and adversely impact their own health and wellbeing.

View more

Cancer care for people with dementia: Literature overview and recommendations for practice and research

CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

2022

As many countries experience population aging, patients with cancer are becoming older and have more preexisting comorbidities, which include prevalent, age-related, chronic conditions such as dementia. People living with dementia (PLWD) are vulnerable to health disparities, and dementia has high potential to complicate and adversely affect care and outcomes across the cancer trajectory.

View more

Characteristics and general practice resource use of people with comorbid cancer and dementia in England: a retrospective cross-sectional study

BMC Primary Care

2022

Cancer and dementia are common in older people and management of the conditions as comorbidities can be challenging, yet little is known about the size or characteristics of this group. We aimed to estimate the prevalence, characteristics and general practice resource usage of people living with both conditions in England.

View more

Show All +