Rianna Patterson

Studying Alzheimer’s at Cambridge, Oluwatomi Akingbade learned she had a passion for equality and representation in her field, leading her to found global networking platform Black Women in Science (BWiS).
This article is part of the series Diversity & Dementia, produced by Being Patient with support provided by Eisai.
For University of Cambridge PhD student and dementia researcher Oluwatomi “Tomi” Akingbade, there isn’t a personal story that connects her to Alzheimer’s disease — but as the r...

When Rianna returned to Dominica to celebrate Creole Month as an adult, she found a new perspective on life and herself.

Rianna is a graduated FL from the TrueLayer Cohort 2 programme. She has showcased her leadership skills through setting up the Dominican Dementia Foundation, an organisation aimed at raising funds and awareness for dementia within Dominica. In this blog, she shares her experience of the Circl programme.

I applied to the Circl programme with the aim of improving my personal coaching business and I knew that this accreditation would be instrumental in enriching the services I provide. The reaso...

To highlight International Women's day we interviewed Rianna Patterson a young female entrepreneur and filmmaker from Dominica living and working in the UK. Rianna shared with us her experience of leaving the Caribbean to study at the University of Kent and build her career in the UK. She truly highlights not only the personal and cultural achievements of studying abroad but the professional ones too!

Since moving to the UK Rianna has started her own social good coaching business supporting p...

Embracing creativity as we age allows us to understand ourselves and others.

After university, I quickly realised that I did not have a lot of flexibility in the working world. I have been working from home due to COVID-19, which also comes with complications as you have to be very disciplined in separating work and home responsibilities. Managing your mental health in the workplace is extremely important to prevent burnout and poor performance at work. I have a few tips to help support good mental health at work.

It is easy to be sucked into a spiral of content ideas and the urgency to always be present for your audience. However, this is not a healthy way to improve your mental health and creativity. As a brand, it can be difficult to balance your time but I am here to provide some tips to help you work better, produce content you enjoy making.

1. Get things done as early as possible

The first step to maximising productivity is understanding your priorities and how you work best. Start preparing a pe...

Major events in her personal life led Rianna down a path that taught her how to be adaptable and agile.
At every careers’ day in high school, I would show up in a different role. At first, I wanted to be a fashion designer, then a doctor and then a lawyer. I dropped law when I realised that at the time, I was not fascinated enough by history to pursue a career in this industry. I always knew that whatever I decided to do would be something that I am passionate about.
In 2013, my grandfather p...

The solution to tackling the stigma towards Mental Health isn’t concrete but one thing I have learnt is that we need to start talking about Mental Health in a more positive light.
During COVID we have seen the important is staying informed. We also saw the negative consequences of social media and how it can have a negative impact on our health. The media we consume can have an impact on our behaviour and our thoughts.
Think of it like this, if we continuously see the headline “Dementia Suffe...

In light of International Women’s Day I sat down with Abeena Gomes who is passionate about youth engagement and media. She is the founder of Shine Your Light Initative and Marketing Consultant at ASG Solutions.
Rianna: What lead you to advocate and work towards providing quality education? Is there a personal story that you can share?
Abeena: I have always been afforded the opportunity to learn. As I grew older I understood that not everyone has that privilege hence I decided to use the resou...

Rianna Patterson is the founder of Dominica Dementia Foundation. She is also the director of the Dementia Island Journey Film. Rianna is a fellow TEDx speaker, Queens Young Leader awardee and RCS Associate Fellow. Rianna is also the Marketing, Business pathways and Young Adult Programme Lead at ReapSource.
This Mental Health Day Rianna shares her advice on how to take care of your mental health as a young leader.
Being an entrepreneur, I have found myself in a period of exhaustion and burn ou...

Rianna shares her personal experience of dealing with the loss of my grandmother during university and share her tips for seeking help
- Rianna Patterson
University life isn't easy. I lost my grandmother during my second year of university. She passed away on the first day of exams. I only managed to do one exam and then I flew back to Dominica that same week to be with my mum and help plan the funeral. I had to submit a concession for that term which meant I pursued exams at a later date. I ...

Rianna Patterson, Founder of Dominica Dementia Foundation explores the stigma that still exists towards Black mental health, highlighting why we need to see the BAME community represented in the media.
We need to normalise conversations around BAME communities seeking mental health support. It is important that we take care of our mental health and that we are empathetic to those who are struggling with their mental health.
Through the Dominica Dementia Foundation, we have created safe spaces...

‘Dementia’ – often used as an umbrella term for memory loss and cognitive decline. In fact, dementia is a symptom of brain disorders and numerous underlying diseases characterized by a decline in cognitive function including memory, learning, attention, language, etc. This can be progressive and can be severe enough to affect daily function and independence. The most common form of dementia in older adults is Alzheimer’s disease which accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases.
Psychology Graduate...