Working with the EMPOWER+ Network as a King’s Undergraduate Fellowship recipient has been an academically, professionally, and personally rewarding experience. I initially joined the team to help conduct a scoping review on co-production research with ethnic minorities living with dementia. As this chapter ends, I am reflecting on how I have learned to connect with and empower people in our community, and to be flexible and solution-oriented when it comes to conducting research. Though I had previously conducted literature reviews, I had minimal experience working on scoping reviews. I was unaware of where to start, so I was nervous to join the EMPOWER+ Network. But this feeling dissipated after my introductory call: the team offered myriad resources on how to conduct a scoping review. My supervisor was incredibly helpful in guiding me towards the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Scoping Review Extension. The guide includes a checklist of the components in a scoping review. I used this to design a protocol. This did not come without a challenge though: there is limited literature on co-production research with ethnic minorities living with dementia. I was stumped, and unsure if I could continue the review with so few articles. So, I consulted the team. Through a few meetings, the team helped me expand the main research question, signposted specific databases to scope, and suggested tools like Covidence to screen articles. The review process, from protocol design to article screening, illuminated gaps in the literature, with most articles focusing on people in palliative care or experiencing life limiting conditions, and rarely groups living with dementia.

I also had the opportunity to join two EMPOWER+ Network research assistants on a co-creation workshop at a Dementia Café. At first, I believed I was attending as a participant of the workshop, to observe and learn from the researchers about co-creation. However, they invited my co-fellow and I to co-lead the workshop; it felt daunting, but as they gave us the tools necessary to be able work with the attendees, I built the confidence to contribute. Through art, members of the community living with dementia (some alongside their carers) expressed and communicated what they envisioned to be high quality, personalized care. I had in depth discussions with a few attendees on what aspects of care worked for them, and what they would like to see change in their care. This was my first experience with co-creation, and first time actively helping in a workshop like this, and I highly appreciated it. The group living with dementia enlightened me about their lived experiences, taking the lead in designing how they wanted their stories to be presented. Not only did I develop my interpersonal and communication skills, but I learned how to conduct co-creation workshops and co-production research, which had been a personal goal of mine throughout my academic career.

I would like to thank the EMPOWER+ Network for imparting so much wisdom, and for inspiring me to pursue co-production research with groups living with dementia.