{"id":433,"date":"2025-03-06T13:08:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T13:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/public-discourses-of-dementia\/?p=433"},"modified":"2025-03-06T13:09:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T13:09:01","slug":"felicity-slocombe-imagining-dementia-futures-newspaper-representations-of-air-pollution-social-isolation-and-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/public-discourses-of-dementia\/2025\/03\/06\/felicity-slocombe-imagining-dementia-futures-newspaper-representations-of-air-pollution-social-isolation-and-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"Felicity Slocombe – Imagining Dementia Futures: Newspaper representations of air pollution, social isolation and dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"An
Image courtesy of the Age-positive image library<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In January 2025, we (Emma Putland, Senior Research Associate on the Public Discourses of Dementia project and Felicity Slocombe from the University of Bradford\u2019s Centre for Applied Dementia Studies) attended the Imagining Dementia Futures conference at the University of Manchester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3-day event featured talks and workshops across a range of topics: performance arts, music therapy, narratives and identity, personal accounts of dementia, archaeology, LGBTQ+ identity and dementia, and risk factors. Emma and I\u2019s own talk came under the latter topic, and was entitled: \u2018Representations of air pollution, social isolation and dementia in the UK news\u2019<\/strong>. The event was attended by people with dementia, academics, researchers, and creative practitioners who all came together to share their experiences, research and approaches in an inclusive and friendly laid-back environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the first time either of us had presented on this topic and doing so in front of a diverse and engaged audience was extremely valuable. In this blog, we will give an overview of our talk. You can also view the presentation slides<\/strong><\/a>, if you\u2019d like to find out more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We started our interest in newspaper representation of air pollution and social isolation as risk factors for dementia due to findings from the Lancet Commission Report<\/a>, which identifies 14 potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia. Air pollution and social isolation are two of those 14 risk factors, and they are also complex societal factors that can be difficult for individuals to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air pollution comes from a large variety of sources, and is recognised as the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death globally<\/a>. It has been linked to conditions<\/a> like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and inflammation \u2013 all of which can increase dementia risk. Similarly, social isolation (having infrequent social contact) has been associated with higher dementia risk<\/a>, with interesting cultural variations in prevalence<\/a> across different countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method and analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We used a large collection of over 11,000 UK newspaper articles about dementia published between 2013 and 2022 as the basis for our analysis. This collection features over 9 million words from eight UK national newspapers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To search the collection for mentions of social isolation and air pollution we used keywords and phrases such as \u2018social isolat*\u2019 and \u201cair pollt*\u201d. The asterisk (*) allows for different stems of the same word to be searched \u2013 such as \u2018isolating\u2019 and \u2018isolated\u2019. Doing this, we identified 2144 matches! For this initial small project, we analysed a random sample of 100 mentions each for air pollution and social isolation, looking at how both risk factors are being discussed by UK newspaper media. We had a particular interest in how risks and recommendations for combatting them are presented as individual and\/or societal issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Findings: Social Isolation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Social isolation was portrayed as both a risk factor for dementia and a consequence of having dementia. The media discussed isolation in relation to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n