Abstract
The Meeting Centres Support Programme (MCSP) is an innovative post-diagnostic combined support form that offers a combined approach to providing practical, emotional and social support to people living with mild to moderately dementia (pwd) and their family carers in the community. Pwd were satisfied with the program and the caregivers reported that they felt less burdened after three months of participation. Focus group analysis showed that pwd and carers in all countries/centres improved their ability to maintain emotional balance (Aging Ment Health 2021). The program was implemented with success in Poland, Italy and UK (Aging Ment Health . 2020) Evidence for cost-effectiveness of MCSP was mixed but suggests that it may be cost-effective in relation to gains in dementia-specific quality of life measures (Health Soc Care Community . 2021)
MCSP filled an important gap in post-diagnostic care, increasing the accessibility to support for both pwd and carers. Moreover, it can guide towards healthcare and social services.
The objective of the study is to evaluate how an MCSP in Italy has implemented and integrated with local healthcare and social services.
The Meeting Centre (MC) in Formigine (Modena) was born on April 2022, as a community project thank to the collaboration of Primary care in particular Memory Clinic, Social service and Dementia-Association. It works thanks to a psychologist, The Memory Clinic’s occupational therapist and 19 volunteers. The access is free but inclusion criteria should be mild dementia or cognitive impairment without severe functional problems or challenging behaviour.
The MC carries out activities within a sports club in the centred-town. It opens 3 times a week for 3 hours in the morning and once in the afternoon. Occupational therapist and Psychologist plan the psychosocial activities depending on person’s preference. Volunteers help professionals to implement the activities. The activities can be cognitive stimulation, physical or musical activities, games and occupational activity as cooking or gardening. The MC welcomed 90 older people in one year, (43:35=F:M) aged 80.63 +/- 6.58 years old, and 62 caregivers, of which 15 participated into discussion-groups. Among 90 older people welcomed, 78 attended MC at least once.
Pwd attending the centre have gradually increased from a mean of 9.5 to 19.43 people every day. 27 pwd were sent from Memory Clinic, 7 from Social Service and 42 came thanks to advertising or words of mouth. 39 dropout, 4 people had not criteria to stay in MC, they were directed to other social service such as Day Center. 10 olders unknown to the health service were hooked up Memory Clinic for cognitive impairment.
Conclusion: MC is a community service integrated with health and social care able to detect people with cognitive impairment to direct to Memory clinic, able to detect social problem to direct to social service, able to prevent loneliness and cognitive impairment in older people and help caregivers to support pwd and to know health and social opportunity to care.