Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester, Worcester, UK.
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Aging Ment Health. 2024 Dec;28(12):1695-1703. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2024.2356885. Epub 2024 May 25.
There is a need to improve the provision and reach of community services for people living with dementia, a goal in which community-based support groups can play a key role. The Get Real with Meeting Centres project aimed to explore factors involved in the success and sustainability of Meeting Centres (MCs) a form of community-based support proliferating in the UK. This is the first of two linked articles outlining learning from this realist evaluation of MCs, which focusses on findings around reach and membership.
Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 77 participants across three case study MC sites in England and Wales, including people living with dementia, informal carers, staff, volunteers, trustees, and supporting professionals/practitioners. Data were themed, then analysed using both soft systems methodology and realist logic of analysis.
Fifty-two 'context-mechanism-outcome' statements were generated, explaining how background circumstances might trigger responses/processes to produce wanted or unwanted outcomes regarding four key areas for MC sustainability: and .
Strong links with formal services and a well-functioning dementia care pathway are essential to sustaining community-based group support such as MCs; group support is also well-placed to assist work to improve pathway issues. Clarity of offer (including benefit to carers), and a wide range of activities, are key to appeal and reach; transport to, and use of, venue are challenges, as are pressures to support people with more advanced dementia.
需要改善为痴呆症患者提供的社区服务的供应和范围，社区支持团体可以在这一目标中发挥关键作用。“真实面对会议中心”项目旨在探索参与式会议中心（MCs）成功和可持续性的相关因素，MCs 是一种在英国广泛存在的社区支持形式。这是两篇相关文章中的第一篇，概述了对 MC 的实际评估中的经验教训，重点介绍了关于覆盖范围和成员资格的发现。
在英格兰和威尔士的三个案例研究 MC 地点，对 77 名参与者进行了半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论，参与者包括痴呆症患者、非正式照顾者、工作人员、志愿者、受托人以及支持专业人员/从业者。对数据进行主题分析，然后使用软系统方法论和现实主义分析逻辑进行分析。
生成了 52 个“背景-机制-结果”陈述，解释了在四个 MC 可持续性的关键领域中，背景情况如何引发反应/过程，从而产生期望或不期望的结果：、、、。
与正规服务以及运作良好的痴呆症护理途径建立紧密联系，对于维持社区团体支持（如 MC）至关重要；团体支持也非常适合协助改善途径问题。服务提供的明确性（包括对照顾者的益处）以及广泛的活动范围是吸引力和覆盖范围的关键；前往和使用场地的交通是挑战，支持更晚期痴呆症患者的压力也是挑战。
