A dementia expert from De Montfort University has been invited to New York to talk at a university about the importance of culture in treating people with the condition.
Dr Karan Jutlla, lecturer in Health and Social Care, has been invited to Sunny Upstate Medical University to give a talk to its neurology department staff.
She was invited out by US members of an audience at one her talks in Valencia, Spain earlier in the year.
She said: "Though I've been called out for work, I would be doing an injustice to myself if I didn't spend some time exploring the city.
"I have only ever dreamt of seeing New York and how blessed I am that my work has given me a reason, and opportunity, to go."
Dr Jutlla has been researching dementia care for more than a decade, focusing on how to provide the best care for patients across different backgrounds, ethnicities or religious beliefs - known as cultural competency.
She has studied first-hand the challenge of providing dementia care in migrant Sikh communities in the UK and now promotes a type of care centred around the patient in which the carer takes the time to understand the person's history and background as much as their medical condition.
Dr Jutlla said: "Professor Antonio Culebras, the Director of the Department of Neurology at Sunny Upstate Medical University also gave a talk in Valencia.
"He said my talk on cultural competency would be the first of its kind that the university staff will have heard, something I'm very excited about sharing."
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But the talk is not simply a chance to meet some professional contacts and see New York.
Dr Jutlla said: "I have also been given the opportunity to speak with a group of residents in training about their experiences of care and how cultural aspects impact on such experiences.
"This is an opportunity to unpick the issues I will have raised in my talk and gather some valuable data for analysis.
"When I get back, I want to talk about what I've hear d and learned from the trip with a similar group of healthcare professionals in Leicester, comparing the similarities and differences between the two locations.
"That means this visit could have great impact on the work I will be doing at DMU as we will be taking and sharing learning across the globe."
Posted on Wednesday 5 October 2016