Writing and research

My writing and research explore how leadership, organisational structures and public policy shape the lives of older people and the organisations that support them. I draw on academic research, strategic-leadership practice and direct experience of building and leading a community charity. Across these different settings, I am interested in how ideas can be translated into practical change.

Academic research

My academic work spans critical social work with older people, dementia, digital experiences and participatory design. It includes research on the pressures facing social work in a neoliberal policy environment and collaborative studies exploring how technology and creative methods can support people living with dementia and their families.

Three peer-reviewed publications co-authored with James Hodge examine tailored virtual-reality experiences for people with dementia, the capture of meaningful family experiences, and participants’ representations and changing sensitivities within a dementia hackathon. Together, these studies consider not only what technology can make possible, but also how research and design can respond thoughtfully to people’s identities, relationships and lived experience.

Leadership, succession and the third sector

A second strand of my writing grows from my experience as Founder and Chief Executive of Silverline Memories CIO and from my MSc in Strategic Leadership. I write about succession planning in small charities, the particular dynamics of founder-led organisations, leadership transitions, governance and organisational sustainability.

This work is concerned with the questions that leaders and trustees often have to address while continuing to deliver services: how to share responsibility, prepare for change, retain organisational knowledge and build a future that does not depend on one individual. My aim is to make strategic ideas useful to people working with limited time and resources.

Ageing, inclusion and human rights

My wider commentary addresses institutional ageism, dementia inclusion, social policy and human rights. I am interested in the gap that can develop between the language of rights and inclusion and people’s everyday experience of systems and services. In writing for professional and public audiences, I seek to make those structures visible while keeping attention on dignity, participation and practical action.

Practical guidance

I am also the author of How to Start a Dementia Cafe, a self-published practical guide available through Amazon. The book draws on experience of developing community-based dementia support and is intended for people and organisations interested in creating a welcoming, sustainable local dementia café.

Selected publications

Hastings, S. J. and Rogowski, S. (2015). “Critical Social Work with Older People in Neo-liberal Times: Challenges and Critical Possibilities.” Practice: Social Work in Action, 27(1), 21–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/09503153.2014.983435

Hodge, J., Balaam, M., Hastings, S. and Morrissey, K. (2018). “Exploring the Design of Tailored Virtual Reality Experiences for People with Dementia.” Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Paper 514.

https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174088

Hodge, J., Montague, K., Hastings, S. and Morrissey, K. (2019). “Exploring Media Capture of Meaningful Experiences to Support Families Living with Dementia.” Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Paper 423.

https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300653

Hodge, J., Foley, S., Lambton-Howard, D., Booi, L., Montague, K., Coulter, S., Kirk, D. and Morrissey, K. (2023). “Exploring Participants’ Representations and Shifting Sensitivities in a Hackathon for Dementia.” ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 30(3), Article 46, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1145/3571814

Hastings, Sandra. How to Start a Dementia Cafe. Self-published; available through Amazon. 

Publication note: Some earlier work appears under the names Sandra J. Hastings and Sandra Coulter. Those names are retained in citations so that the original publication records remain accurate and discoverable.