Evaluation of the Meeting Center Support Programme for People with Dementia and Their Family Carers

The Meeting Centre Support Programme (MCSP) is a community-based approach to supporting people with mild to moderate dementia and their families, developed in the Netherlands where they are now widespread. Evaluation studies showed benefits including reduced behavioural and mood problems, delayed admission to residential care, higher levels of carer competence and lower levels of burden. The JPND funded MeetingDem project aimed to implement and evaluate Meeting Centres in the UK, Italy and Poland. Our evaluation adopted a before and after control group design with matched patient-carer dyads. In each country we compared a minimum of 25 dyads using the MCSP with 25 receiving ‘usual care. Baseline data were collected at month 1 with a follow up at month 7. Validated measures were used to assess quality of life, depression, social support and caregiver competence. Data were also collected on intervention costs and the use of other services in order to allow a cost effectiveness analysis. Finally, surveys and focus groups were used to evaluate user satisfaction with the MCSP. Initial findings suggest significant effects for MCSP compared to usual care, including reduced behavioural problems and improved caregiver coping. This presentation will describe the MCSP approach, present the full evaluation findings and consider the potential for wider implementation