Research Interests
Ruby is interested in holistic approaches to research and to understanding the relationships between, and working with, music/arts and people, particularly those living with dementia.
Between 2016 – 2021, she conducted a doctoral research project exploring music with people with dementia who are living at home and the people who care for them, called:
Flourishing through Music: Understanding, Promoting and Supporting Musical Activity Shared within the Caring Relationships of People with Dementia Living at Home. (2016-20), Alzheimer’s Society.
For this project, she engaged in a process of ‘gentle empiricism’; a method for the study of living processes that is attributed to Goethe.
The project was supervised by Professor Eleanor Bradley at the University of Worcester, Theresa Mitchell at the University of Worcester, Dr Claire Garabedian and Professor Amanda Griffiths at the University of Nottingham. The research was conducted within the TAnDem Doctoral Training Centre (DTC), a collaborative partnership between the Universities of Worcester and Nottingham, funded by The Alzheimer’s Society.
Recent Publications
Morton, T., Evans, S. B., Swift, R., Bray, J., Frost, F., Russell, C., Brooker, D., Wong, G., & Hullah, N. (2024). Strategic and operational issues in sustaining community-based dementia support groups: the Get Real with Meeting Centres realist evaluation part 2. Aging & mental health, 1–9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2372058
Morton, T., Evans, S. B., Swift, R., Bray, J., Frost, F., Russell, C., Brooker, D., Wong, G., & Hullah, N. (2024). Reaching people and managing membership in community-based dementia support groups: the Get Real with Meeting Centres realist evaluation part 1. Aging & mental health, 1–9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2356885
Morton, T., Evans, S., Swift, R., Bray, J. and Frost, F. (2023) The legacy of COVID-19 in dementia community support: ongoing impacts on the running of meeting centres, Working with Older People, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-03-2023-0006
Morton, T., Swift, R., Evans, S.B., Bray, J., Frost, F. & Wong, G. (2023). What you can do to help your Meeting Centre: Suggestions for people who attend Meeting Centres. University of Worcester ISBN 978-0-903607-42-1
Morton, T., Swift, R., Evans, S.B., Bray, J., Frost, F. & Wong, G. (2023). Keeping Meeting Centres going long term: Recommendations for people running Meeting Centres. University of Worcester ISBN 978-0-903607-43-8
Morton, T., Swift, R., Evans, S.B., Bray, J., Frost, F. & Wong, G. (2023). Sustaining Meeting Centres and similar community-led dementia support: Suggestions for health and care professionals. University of Worcester ISBN 978-0-903607-44-5
Swift, R. (July 2023) Oral Presentation: What we learnt about barriers to accessing Meeting Centres. The Get Real with Meeting Centres Celebration Event, University of Nottingham, UK.
Swift, R., Evans, S.B., Morton, T., Bray, J., & Atkins, J. (2023). Report: Get Real with Meeting Centres: Demographic Profile. University of Worcester. Available: https://scidemreview.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/demographic-report-final-updated-310723.pdf?force_download=true
Swift, R., Evans, S.B., Morton, T., Bray, J., & Atkins, J. (2023). Report: Get Real with Meeting Centres: Herefordshire and Worcestershire Meeting Centres:
barriers to attendance and recommendations for how to
address them. University of Worcester. Available: https://scidemreview.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/interview-report-final-updated-310723.pdf?force_download=true
Association for Dementia Studies (2023) Get Real with Meeting Centres Video Series. Available: https://scidemreview.wordpress.com/
Swift, R. (April 2023) Presentation: Update on UK Meeting Centres. Older Adult Mental Health DCC Business Meeting, online.
Swift, R. (February 2023) Presentation: Update on UK Meeting Centres. Early Intervention Dementia Service Business Meeting, online.
Swift, R. (October 2022) Webinar: Get Real with Meeting Centres research project: Work Package 5. Online.
Swift, R. (2021) Flourishing through Music: Understanding, Promoting and Supporting Musical Activity Shared within the Caring Relationships of People with Dementia Living at Home, PhD Thesis, Worcester University, Worcester.
Swift, R. and Gray, K. (2020) Arts and dementia: shaping the future. The Journal of Dementia Care, 28(6), pp. 19-20.
Gray, K., Swift, R. and Brooker, D. (2020) The Arts and Dementia: Shaping the Future. Worcester: Association for Dementia Studies.
Swift, R., Coaten, R., Dowson, R., Prytherch, D., Sutcliffe, R. and Whitmore, R (2020). Creative & Sensory Activities for people and families affected by dementia: Booklet 1. Available: https://www.worcester.ac.uk/documents/TAnDem-Creative-and-Sensory-Activities-Booklet-1.pdf