Dr Sarah Wayland

20/10/2025

Ever thought of doing a PhD?

I spend the majority of my week supervising Masters and PhD students in social work, public health, nursing, education and psychology and have a great scholarship opportunity for the right applicant!

Every year in Australia about 10% of people reported missing are wandering due to dementia, Alzheimers or cognitive impairment. Join me at CQU alongside my industry partner Medic Alert.

This community-embedded research initiative, using a mixed methods approach, will focus on a goal to develop an understanding of the use of wearable devices to locate people quickly when wandering (whilst acknowledging self-determination, involvement in health decision making and reduction of harm whilst absent).

Interested? Have a read of the selection criteria and then email me for more information

The rate of ‘wandering’ (the term used to describe the absence of a person when missing due to dementia or cognitive vulnerability) has limited evidence. Wandering occurs during times of stress or agitation and can be a regular feature for some people with dementia or cognitive impairment. This ...

01/10/2025

Thinking of the family and the community of Yunta today - media have been in touch this morning asking about the impact of missing on rural communities and what we know about media research on missing cases. Our work with The Missed Foundation Everymind and CQUniversity Australia at the moment shows that:

- Families of missing people want the community to know they can see all of the social media comments about their stories. Be trauma informed and compassionate when you react.
- Proposing new and horrifying ideas of trauma do nothing other than hurt families who are already hurting.
- Police media make decisions about how much or how little of an investigation is shared
- If you’re local to the event consider how you can safely volunteer to help not to hinder an investigation
- Every media outlet will have a different editorial focus. Moderate comments on your platforms, close comments if you can, and don’t engage in the gaps of mystery when the news cycle doesn’t keep pace with the investigation updates

Hoping for the safe return of Gus

04/08/2025

Many thanks to The Conversation AU and CQUniversity Australia for helping me shape this article on a public health approach to Missing Persons Week



https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/qom0CZYMlES5QgB3nszfKsBcHLB?domain=theconversation.com

08/07/2025

Made the long journey home to Sydney only to be heading to Brisbane for a CQUniversity Australia residential school for our BSW students today 😴

Last weeks International Missing Children and Adult conference hosted by Leeds Trinity University was an engaging 3 days listening to Police, academic and lived experience projects.

I had the honour to co-present with The Missed Foundation and University of Portsmouth on the scale up of our Hope Narratives project. Attendees were so connected to the project, buying up the kit for their teams and helping us to think of new ways to reach more people.

I then presented the detailed analysis of a study mapping coronial case records that explore the experiences of those who go missing and die by su***de - almost 200 deaths in NSW alone between 2017 and 2022 - with work to do on intervening when people are in distress and understanding the unique triggers that set people on a pathway.

As we move toward National Missing Persons week 2025 I would encourage everyone to consider the fact that almost 60000 people were reported missing last year in Australia and that a prevention lens is what our investment should be, not just a simple social media post for people to click and share.

07/02/2025

Friday signals my first week as Professor of Social Work at CQUniversity Australia Sydney campus. A time for change and curiosity and new opportunities for me in a research focused role.

It was also the week I signed my first book agreement to publish with Lived Places Publishing - a 25 year reflection on how to teach students, professionals and the community about living in the liminal space. Hopefully out later this year!



Image is of a woman with red hair, walking with a coffee on the way to work