Linda Clare is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology in the School of Psychology, Bangor University, UK, where she leads the Research in Ageing and Cognitive Health (REACH) group. She is a chartered clinical psychologist and clinical neuropsychologist. Her research focuses on older people and people with dementia, with a particular emphasis on understanding neuropsychological and psychological aspects of experience and behavior in the context of progressive cognitive impairment and mental health difficulties arising in later life, and on the potential for prevention and rehabilitation of disability in later life and dementia. She has pioneered the application of cognitive rehabilitation approaches for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. In 2004 she received the May Davidson award from the British Psychological Society for her contribution to the development of clinical psychology in the UK.

The work of the REACH group falls into four broad themes:

1. Promoting well-being in ageing. Work in this area aims to identify psychological and social factors contributing to well-being and ‘successful’ ageing, and the effective management of age-related challenges, in order to explore ways of enhancing positive experience and functioning in later life. 

2. Preventing, reducing or delaying the onset of disability in ageing. Research under this theme aims to understand more about factors that may contribute to the development of age-related disability and to explore the psychological mechanisms underlying these processes in order to identify possibilities for preventing, reducing or delaying the onset of disability and develop effective behaviour change interventions. 

3. Rehabilitation. Work in this area involves developing and examining the efficacy of psychological and psychosocial interventions to maintain functioning or enhance well-being for people experiencing age-related disability.  Associated aims are to identify sources of ‘excess’ disability and consider how these may be tackled, and to understand the experience of individuals experiencing age-related disability from a psychosocial perspective and identify the implications for theory and practice.

4. Improving quality of care. Research under this theme seeks to identify ways of assisting care staff in residential settings to provide optimal care for people with dementia.

Current REACH group members:

Professor Linda Clare

Dr Sharon Nelis, Research Fellow

Dr Catherine Quinn, Postdoctoral Research Officer

Dr Pamela Martin-Forbes, Postdoctoral Research Officer

Ms Hannah Jelley, Research Project Support Officer

Ms Lexi Hindley, Research Project Support Officer

Ms Jennifer Cooney, Research Project Support Officer

Ms Lester Bath, Administrator

Ms Aleksandra Kudlicka, PhD student

Mr Anthony Martyr, PhD student

Ms Julia Robinson, PhD student

Ms Judith Roberts, Trainee Clinical Psychologist