I am a Queen's Nurse working in Cornwall, specialising in dementia care particularly around the needs and challenges faced by people with dementia who identify as LGBTQ and by their carers.

I had previous professional experience of a transgender woman who developed Alzheimer's disease and became confused about her identity, and the distress this caused to her and others. There is growing interest in this area, with Australia providing excellent training and services to care home staff and professionals. My Fellowship enabled me to go to Australia in 2018 to learn more about these services and how we can improve our own.

My experiences have been published and I've guested on blogs, sat on a webinar panel about LGBTQ+ with dementia, and presented at dementia conferences. I have reviewed LGBTQ+ literature for journals and the Alzheimer's Society, and contributed to their Bring Dementia Out campaign. I edited a chapter about dementia for the Queen's Nursing Institute. I have also become a mentor on their new Aspiring Leaders course. My learning from Australia will become mandatory staff training within the NHS Trust in Cornwall and shared in the wider care community.