Jacinta Babaian

Research

Jacinta is a Research Assistant and part-time research student in the School of Psychology.

Jacinta is currently working on a three year research project evaluating the Living through Landscapes Dementia Garden Project (see www.dementiagarden.org.uk), led by the charity Learning through Landscapes and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The Living through Landscapes Project is transforming the outdoor settings in 30 care homes across the UK to improve the quality of life for people living with Dementia. This project involves collaborations between the School of Psychology and the Personal and Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU), as well as Age UK Medway, Groundwork, and Thrive.

Research interests

• Social interaction and isolation
• Well-being and quality of life
• Intergroup relations
• Stereotypes
• Prejudice

Jacinta's PhD explores the person-environment interaction and its influence on the health and well-being of older adults living with Dementia. Specifically it will focus on how access to and use of garden spaces in care settings can impact on the quality of life of service users living with Dementia, taking into consideration the quality of the outdoor space and staff facilitation.

Thesis title

TBC

Supervisor

• Dr Hannah Swift (1st supervisor)
• Dr Anna Brown (Co-2nd supervisor)
• Ann-Marie Towers, Personal Social Services Research Unit (Co-2nd supervisor)

Funding

(2018) Graduate Teaching Scholarship (GTA - Impact studentship), University of Kent, School of Psychology

Conference/poster presentation

• Babaian, J., Swift, H.J., Towers, A-M. (2018, July). The use of Talking Mats to assist communication with service users in care settings in the Living through Landscapes Dementia Garden Project. Paper presented at the British Society for Gerontology 47th Annual Conference, Manchester.