Tag: memory loss

Former referee recounts career at Edinburgh Football Memories group as Specsavers tour hits capital

PARTICIPANTS of an Edinburgh Football Memories group enjoyed a visit from former referee Martin Clark as a Specsavers-sponsored whistle-stop tour of Scotland reached the capital.  

The official sponsors of the Scottish FA match officials have facilitated for retired refs to speak to participants of Football Memories, a project which assists people living with memory loss conditions, including dementia and Alzheimer’s, as well as those experiencing loneliness and social isolation. 

The tour will also stop in at Dundee and Aberdeen. Ex-whistler Dougie Hope got proceedings under way at Hampden Park on January 25, before Martin entertained the group at Hibernian FC’s Easter Road Stadium with tales from his career. 

Established in 2009, Football Memories Scotland is a charitable project run by the Scottish Football Museum in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland. 

With 500 groups around the country, often hosted in football settings, Football Memories uses engaging football-themed resources stored in a memory box, such as reminiscence cards, life-size player cutouts, newspaper clippings and books, to stir memories and discussions led by volunteers. 

Specsavers have sponsored the boxes for the referee tour and have helped to provide some exciting new contents for them such as old football boots, photographs of former referees and other memorabilia. 

Long-term memories can be triggered for many through the visual cues of images, videos, artefacts and discussions taking place in a small group or even a one-to-one setting, unlocking precious happy moments from the past. The impact can be enormous. 

Robert Craig, Chair of the Scottish Football Museum, says: ‘We were delighted to welcome Martin to the group as our new partnership with Specsavers continued to demonstrate its power. 

‘Their support to the Football Memories project, which impacts the lives of all who touch it, is invaluable and helps us to continue to deliver for those living with memory loss conditions or experiencing isolation.’ 

Crawford Allan, Scottish FA Head of Referee Operations, says: ‘Football Memories is a fantastic initiative and one our roster of former referees will gladly support, as an extension of our existing partnership with Specsavers. 

‘We hope their stories and treasured memorabilia will spark many happy memories.’ 

Specsavers’ Arlene Stephenson, Scottish Divisional Chair, says: ‘Specsavers is proud of our long tradition in backing Scottish referees, but our latest sponsorship deal sees us going further than ever, helping to raise awareness of the vital work Football Memories does in assisting people living with memory loss conditions. 

‘We can’t wait to hear what questions the referees are fielded on their tour of the country and learn about the impact for those attending the groups.’ 

Specsavers announced in 2021 that it renewed its’ sponsorship deal with football referees in Scotland, marking more than 20 years of support – one of the longest agreements of its kind in sport. 

The deal has seen the partnership continue into 2024, not only helping with the training and development of referees, but also helping to raise awareness of para football and grassroots football in Scotland. 

Queen’s leads consortium to better understand link between healthy living and dementia

Can a healthy lifestyle combat undernutrition and dementia?

 The PROMED-COG (PROtein enriched MEDiterranean diet to combat undernutrition and promote healthy neuroCOGnitive ageing) Consortium brings together unique expertise to better understand how the balance between diet and physical activity could reverse undernutrition during ageing and, ultimately, prevent dementia. 

The research led by Queen’s University Belfast will provide new and critical insight into the role of undernutrition in cognitive health. It will explore how diet and exercise can work to combat undernutrition and the effect of factors – such as age, gender, and genetics -on the risk of dementia in older age. 

One in ten adults aged 60 years+ are undernourished, which means that they have low levels of proteins, calories, vitamins, and minerals caused by reduced food intake or because the body does not process food properly.

Undernutrition has a negative impact on the health of older people as it leads to weight loss and increases the risk of dementia in later life.  

PROMED-COG project co-ordinator, Dr Claire McEvoy from the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Weight loss increases the risk of dementia by up to 40% but occurs a decade or more before the symptoms of memory loss become apparent.

“This gives us an opportunity to intervene early with preventative strategies to counteract undernutrition and, potentially, the onset of cognitive impairment.” 

Dementia is a major health priority. It already affects around seven million people in Europe, a figure set to double by 2030, with socioeconomic costs rising to over €250 billion. 

While factors, such as age and genetics, influence the onset of dementia and cannot be changed, some lifestyle changes could make a difference. PROMED-COG will use existing datasets in Italy to study the links between undernutrition, cognitive decline, and dementia.

The project will also test the effect of adopting a diet and exercise intervention over six months on undernutrition and cognition in older adults living in Northern Ireland. This will inform the recommendations developed to slow down cognitive decline and prevent dementia in older European citizens.  

Dr McEvoy added: “Dementia is a huge problem affecting our ageing population. There is a significant lack of research in this area and this new grant will bring together a range of European experts to develop evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of undernutrition and cognitive impairment during ageing. 

“This will not only prolong the period of life spent in good health but will also reduce the societal and economic burden of dementia.” 

The European Horizon 2020 Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life”, and ERA-NET Cofund ERA-HDHL (GA N° 696295) has awarded a grant of over 680,000 euros to the PROMED-COG consortium. Led by Queen’s University Belfast, the Consortium includes The National Research Council Italy, The University of Padova, University College Dublin, Wageningen University, and The Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.