Meeting Centres are an innovative way of supporting people with mild to moderate dementia and their families through an evidence-based, person-centred approach and offer an enjoyable, flexible and adaptive programme.
- They are a great low-cost community based way of supporting people living with dementia and their families that have been successfully implemented in the Netherlands for over ten years.
- The Association of Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester is part of a research programme MEETINGDEM (meetingdem.eu) that is evaluating whether this approach can be implemented within the UK, Italy and Poland.
The workshop covered:-
- The background to Meeting Centres - history, principles and ethos including the adjusting to change approach.
- How to set up an Initiative Group of interested stakeholders.
- Creating an implementation plan which includes:-
- Who your target group is (who will attend the Meeting Centre);
- The programme of activities (for people with dementia, for carers; for the community);
- Finance (funding and sustainability);
- Finding a good location;
- Protocol and collaboration between stakeholders;
- Staffing and training;
- PR and marketing (reaching out to participants and referrers).
Meeting centres Pioneer workshop presentation |
