SPIN-D Network Plus Special Interest Group on Rural and Coastal Communities

The SPIN-D Network Plus Rural and Coastal Special Interest Group (SIG) is set up with support from Empower Network Plus to connect people with lived experience, community organisations, practitioners and researchers focused on brain health, dementia prevention and dementia support in rural, remote, island and coastal communities.

The group explores barriers and intersections highlighted in early meetings: loneliness, difficulty reaching hospitals, limited transport options when driving is not possible, higher costs of care, and language and cultural barriers, including gaps in support for Gaelic-speaking island communities. It also considers rural–urban and coastal–non-coastal differences, and the realities of farming, former fishing and immigrant communities.

The group meets regularly and works alongside other dementia networks. The group is chaired by SPIN-D co-applicant and member of the Core Lived Experience Group, Martin Robertson. Faye Watson, a consultant with EMPOWER Network Plus, co-chairs the group until recently and continues to support its development.

Current priorities are to build connections and local meet-ups, link researchers with rural and coastal communities, share resources and opportunities (including walking groups), collaborate on funding bids, and develop a collective voice to support evidence-led policy and service change.