King's College London

From 30 October – 5 November, passengers travelling through London Bridge Station will encounter the stories of Fran, Keiko and Tia, three women who provided palliative care for loved ones diagnosed with dementia.

Their personal experiences of providing unpaid care and advocating for professional support for parents, partners and grandparents, has been depicted in emotive cartoon strips, created by Graphic Novelist Dr Ian Williams. These were originally shown in Spring 2024 as part of Dementia Journeys: Towards Better End of Life Dementia Care, an exhibition at Science Gallery London which also featured portrait photography by Allie Crewe and a manifesto created with participants and poet Louise Wallwein.

The idea to exhibit the cartoons from Dementia Journeys in one of London’s busiest railway stations, emerged out of the ongoing advocacy work from the team behind Empowering Better End of-Life Dementia Care (EMBED-Care). This 6-year research programme, the largest funded of its kind, has been led jointly by Professor Liz Sampson at University College London and Professor Catherine Evans at the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London with Professor Katherine Sleeman, EMBED-Care’s public and policy engagement lead.

By sharing Tia, Keiko and Fran’s story in London Bridge, the EMBED-Care’s team hope to raise awareness that dementia is a life-limiting condition, to demystify palliative dementia care, and create advocates demanding better support for unpaid carers. 

‘Dementia is the most common cause of death in England and 1 in 3 people will receive a dementia diagnosis in their lifetime,’ Professor Katherine Sleeman shared at the launch of the public exhibit. ‘Approximately 130, 567 people travel through London Bridge Station daily, meaning that every day, 43,500 people who travel through the station will have a future diagnosis of dementia, and many more will be affected by someone they love having dementia.

Dementia Journeys seeks to raise awareness of the need for high quality care, including palliative care, for people with dementia.’

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Dementia Journeys at London Bridge Station has been made possible by King’s College London, King’s Culture, University College London, Tim Harrison, Team London Bridge, London Bridge Station, and all participants.

EMBED-Care is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through the ESRC/NIHR Dementia Initiative 2018 (Grant Reference Number ES/S010327/1).