Teaching
Danielle is passionate about advancing dementia education and fostering meaningful change in dementia care. Over the past decade, she has played a central leadership role in the design, delivery, and strategic development of dementia education at the University of Bradford. Her teaching practice is dedicated to creating research-informed, innovative, and stakeholder-engaged curricula that empower the dementia care workforce with the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to provide high-quality, person-centred care.
Danielle takes a leading role in shaping dementia education within the Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, where she has contributed significantly to programme development and pedagogical innovation. She was instrumental in the creation and relaunch of the MSc Advanced Dementia Studies programme in 2018, where she acted as education and programme lead during its development and conception. In this role, she oversaw curriculum design, led the University’s programme approval and quality assurance processes, and developed innovative distance learning content. She also led on student attainment monitoring, marketing, recruitment, admissions, and induction. She created several core modules within the programme, including Evidence-Based Dementia Practice and Leading Change in Practice (the dissertation module), and continues to supervise MSc dissertations.
She is the current Programme Lead for the Postgraduate Certificate for Practitioners with Advanced or Extended Roles in Dementia, the first course of its kind in England. This pioneering programme supports healthcare professionals working in diagnostic and post-diagnostic dementia services, equipping them with high-level skills in assessment, diagnosis, clinical management, and ongoing support for people living with dementia and their carers.
A strong advocate for inclusive and co-produced education, Danielle recently led the development of Understanding the Me in Dementia, a unique, award-winning postgraduate module created entirely in collaboration with 22 people living with dementia. Delivered as part of the MSc Advanced Dementia Studies, this groundbreaking module has been nationally recognised for its innovation, excellence, and real-world impact.
In addition to her leadership within postgraduate education, Danielle plays a key role in embedding dementia education across the Faculty of Health Studies. She leads on dementia-related teaching within the BSc Paramedic Sciences programme and contributes to the Clinical Sciences curriculum, where she delivers sessions on communication skills. Drawing on her methodological expertise in Conversation Analysis, Danielle supports students to develop effective and evidence-informed communication practices in both dementia care and wider clinical contexts.
Current Teaching Roles
Programme Lead: Postgraduate Certificate for Practitioners with Advanced or Extended Roles in Dementia
Module Leader: Understanding the Me in Dementia (MSc Advanced Dementia Studies), Assessment and diagnosis in dementia (PG Cert for practitioners with advanced or extended roles in dementia).
MSc Dissertation Supervisor: MSc Advanced Dementia Studies
PhD Supervisor:
1. Amanda Briggs – Co-designing and evaluating simulation as an approach to delivering dementia education for student nurses
2. Dan Kelleher – Developing and evaluating dementia care training for the UK homecare workforce: A process evaluation of the NIDUS-Professional dementia training intervention for paid homecare professionals.
3.Mia Coe – Exploring the Role of Heritage and Memorialisation in Developing Historical Trauma Support for Ageing Survivors: A Case Study of the Valley Parade Fire
4. Vidhya Kaleeswaran (Advisory Panel) – Assessing South Indian nurses’ knowledge, skills, confidence and attitudes in caring for patients with dementia in the UK.
5. Emily Spencer (External Collaborator – UCL / Alzheimer’s Society) – Advance Care Planning in Dementia: Improving GP Consultations and Development of a Support Programme for General Practitioners (Consult-GP).