Dr Alison Dawson

Senior Research Fellow

Faculty of Social Sciences 4S26, Colin Bell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Dr Alison Dawson

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About me

Dr Alison Dawson is a Senior Research Fellow based in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling. An applied sociologist, she draws on a unique blend of business-oriented academic qualifications and public and private sector regulatory work experience to identify, analyse, and understand challenges to social policy and practice and offer workable solutions and recommendations for action. A valued member of the Faculty's Dementia and Ageing Research Group (now Centre for Environment, Dementia and Ageing Research) for more than a decade, her research has examined and evaluated a range of policies and practices aimed at supporting and/or improving the wellbeing of vulnerable older people in different contexts. Her current research interests include dementia and sight loss, the role of technology in providing support services for older people, time use in unpaid care/support, promoting movement and activity in care homes, the role of physical environment design in supporting people with dementia, particularly in the context of Covid-19, and the social, economic and health use impacts of 'Covid fear'.

Whilst primarily a researcher, she delivers occasional lectures on her areas of specialism on a range of undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses. Alison was module co-ordinator and delivered the SPCU9JK ‘Ageing, Society and Social Policy' undergraduate module for Spring 2016, receiving a Recognising Achievement in Teaching Excellence (RATE) award from the University's Student Union in respect of this.

Alison has been co-Leader of the Faculty's Dementia and Ageing Research Group since August 2019 and is now Deputy Director of the Centre for Environment, Dementia and Ageing Research ('CEDAR'). Her previous contributions to wider academic life at the University of Stirling include memberships of the General University Ethics Panel, FoSS Contract Researchers' Forum, and Faculty Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Group. Outside of work, she is a former Community Councillor and the manager of a struggling Fantasy Football team.

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