CEDAR: Centre for Environment, Dementia and Ageing Research

The Centre for Environment, Dementia and Ageing Research (CEDAR) conducts multidisciplinary research focused on social, built, natural and care environments for older people and people living with dementia.

Older people on bus

Research produced by CEDAR has a strong applied emphasis, older people are front and centre in all our projects, and CEDAR’s research advances our conceptual understanding of ageing and dementia in society.

Research is commonly co-produced with research beneficiaries, and group members continue to innovate in working with vulnerable research participants, for example through arts-based methods.

Our team includes social scientists, clinicians and psychologists who collaborate closely and thus maximise the benefits of interdisciplinary research.

Recent major projects have explored:

  • the meaning and experience of localities for older people
  • the design of living and socialising environments for people with dementia
  • technological and material aspects of ageing
  • the experiences of older people in hospitals and at the end of life.

Two significant ESRC-funded projects in March 2021 are Designing Homes for Healthy Cognitive Ageing (DesHCA) and Generating Older Active Lives Digitally (GOALD).

We are proud to co-host HAGIS, the Scottish Longitudinal Study of Ageing with Economics. Going forward, our emphasis on environments of ageing is core to national research priorities, notably the UKRI’s Healthy Ageing Challenge.

You can also find more information about the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), our internationally renowned centre of knowledge and expertise dedicated to improving the lives of people with dementia.

How our dementia research is making a difference