Research on Grief in Dementia Presented at an International Conference
International visibility for a topic in dementia care that has received little attention to date
Dr. Lena Rupp, a former external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Psychological Research on Aging at the University of Siegen, presented research findings from her dissertation at the 23rd IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Ageing Well in a Globalized World) in Amsterdam. The international conference took place from July 5 to 8, 2026, and brought together researchers and professionals from around the world to discuss current developments in gerontology and geriatrics.
The presentation, titled “Recognizing Anticipatory Dementia Grief: An Empirical Study on Mental Health Providers’ Grief and Loss Attribution,” was part of an interdisciplinary symposium that addressed the grief experiences of informal caregivers of people with dementia. The presentations shed light on the social, medical, and psychological aspects of these experiences and brought together researchers from Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands.
In her presentation, Dr. Rupp presented the results of an online study that examined the extent to which mental health professionals recognize grief reactions in family members of people with dementia. The study was based on a case vignette that participants used to provide their assessments. The results show that this form of grief is not always clearly recognized. The study highlights how important it is to further raise awareness of grief processes related to dementia within psychological care.
The research findings presented here were published in 2024 in the journal GeroPsych:
Rupp, L., Abele, C., & Haberstroh, J. (2024). Do Mental Health Professionals Recognize Dementia Grief? GeroPsych. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000340
In addition to academic exchange, the conference also provided an opportunity to deepen international connections. Participation in the symposium and the exchange with the other speakers were initiated by Dr. Rupp. The symposium featured a psychiatrist from Singapore, a social scientist from Hong Kong, and an anthropologist from the Netherlands, whose research also focuses on grief in the context of dementia. Following the conference, opportunities for further collaboration—for example, in the form of joint publications—will be explored.
The IAGG World Congress is one of the most important international conferences in the fields of gerontology and geriatrics. Under the theme “Ageing Well in a Globalized World,” it offers researchers from various disciplines a platform for international scientific exchange on the challenges and opportunities of aging.
