Enabling Participation in Social Activity: The Meeting Centres Support Programme

MEETINGDEM focussed on the adaptive implementation and evaluation of the successful Dutch Meeting Centres Support Programme (MCSP) for community dwelling people with dementia and their carers. MEETINGDEM took the learning from the Dutch experience to assess whether it would work in Italy, Poland and UK. Each country established at least two Meeting Centres (MC). Implementation facilitators and barriers were inventoried. User satisfaction, cost effectiveness and effectiveness was compared to usual care (UC) and evaluated in a 7 months pre/post controlled trial. 13 MC’s were successfully implemented. Users reported high satisfaction. After six months MC participants showed significant positive effects on QoL (self-esteem, positive affect and feelings of belonging). No significant differences were found for depression or social inclusion. MC carers reported significantly reduced loneliness. MC costs, including intervention costs, were higher than those in the UC group, showing that the benefits of MCSP are associated with additional costs.