Perspectives of people living with dementia and their care partners about the impact on social health when participating in a co‐designed Dementia café

Innes, A; Chesterton, LE; Morris, LE; Smith, SK; Bushell, S

Abstract

Those diagnosed with dementia and those who provide care and support often feel
socially isolated with limited opportunities for social engagement, increasing the potential for loneliness and further isolation that is detrimental to social health. This
study examined how a co-designed dementia café impacted on the self-reported social health of community dwelling people with dementia and their care partners in
the North-West of England. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at two time
periods (summer of 2019 and spring of 2020), with five people living with dementia
and eight care partners. The key finding was that participating in the cafés led to a
sense of belonging and purpose that was beneficial to well-being and social health
for all participants. Community-based initiatives that provide opportunities for peer
support for the person with the diagnosis and the care partner are essential so that
people living with dementia may rebuild their confidence as well as retaining opportunities to socialise.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 11, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Aug 18, 2021
• Publication Date: Aug 18, 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 18, 2022
• Journal: Health and Social Care in the Community
• Print ISSN: 0966-0410
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2524
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13545
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13545
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2524
• Additional Information: Access Information : This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Innes, A., Chesterton, L., Morris, L., Smith, S. K., & Bushell, S. (2021). Perspectives of people living with dementia and their care partners about the impact on social health when participating in a co-designed Dementia café. Health & Social Care in the Community, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13545. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.