Hosted by the Still Reading Project and funded by AHRC Impact Acceleration Award
Symposium: Shared Reading for People with Dementia
Hosted by the Still Reading project and
On 7 May 2026, the Still Reading project was delighted to welcome researchers, practitioners, librarians, charity partners, and people living with dementia to Queen’s University Belfast for the Shared Reading for People with Dementia symposium on 7 May 2026. The event brought together contributors from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to reflect on the role shared reading can play in supporting wellbeing, inclusion, and social connection for people living with dementia.
Shared reading involves reading stories and poems aloud together and responding informally as a group. Throughout the symposium, speakers reflected on the ways shared reading can foster confidence, enjoyment, communication, and connection, particularly for individuals who may have felt excluded from reading following a dementia diagnosis.
The symposium also marked the official launch of our new Shared Reading for People Living with Dementia: A Resource Pack, developed through the Still Reading project by Dr Jane Lugea and Dr Clara Neary in partnership with Dementia NI members and collaborators including The Reader, Roscommon County Libraries, Roscommon LEADER Partnership, and Western Alzheimers.
The day opened with a welcome address from Professor Josie Billington (University of Liverpool) and Katie Clarke (The Reader), followed by a presentation from Dr Jane Lugea on the findings emerging from the Still Reading project and its work delivering shared reading groups for people living with dementia across Ireland. Project partners then took part in a chaired discussion reflecting on their experiences of facilitating shared reading in a range of community settings.
Throughout the day, attendees also had the opportunity to participate in shared reading taster sessions led by Marnie Kennedy (Resident Reader at the Duncairn), giving participants a first-hand experience of the approach at the heart of the project.
The symposium featured presentations from organisations working locally and internationally in the field of shared reading and dementia support, including Aake Visser (Culturele Apotheek, Netherlands), Alison Kirkpatrick (Verbal Arts Centre, Derry), and Sarah Lawrance and Anna Goulding from the Reading with Dementia project at Equal Arts. Dr Lugea facilitated a wonderful question and answer session with Dementia NI members, who shared their positive experiences of how shared reading has helped to evolve socially and to continue engaging with literature following their dementia diagnosis.
Dementia NI members Liam Fox and Paul McCooey during the Q&A with Dr Jane Lugea
The resource pack has been designed to support organisations, community groups, libraries, carers, and facilitators who are interested in setting up shared reading groups tailored to people living with dementia. Drawing on the experiences of the Still Reading project, the guidance offers practical advice on creating welcoming and accessible reading environments, selecting suitable texts, and facilitating meaningful discussion through shared reading.
We are very pleased to now make the resource freely available and hope it will encourage more organisations and communities to develop shared reading initiatives in their own settings.
You can access the resource pack here:
https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/stillreading/resources/shared-reading-for-people-living-with-dementia-a-resource-pack/
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