Dr Sommerlad uses multiple methodologies including observational research using longitudinal cohorts and routinely collected electronic health records, qualitative research, systematic review and meta-analysis to examine clinically relevant outcomes in dementia and cognition for older people.

His main research theme aims to untangle the relationship between social functioning and dementia through multiple approaches:

• estimating the potential beneficial effect of social participation on cognition and dementia risk using data from established prospective cohort studies (Whitehall II and Longitudinal Aging study Amsterdam).
• improving measurement of social function in people with dementia by developing and testing the psychometric properties of the first instrument aiming to measure social functioning in people with dementia. The SF-DEM scale can be found here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/sfdem and we continue to collaborate with researchers translating and validating the scale in China, Japan, and Germany.
• understanding patient, carer, and disease-related factors affecting social function in people with dementia through quantitative and qualitative analysis.