Shaping a clearer, more effective approach to social prescribing for people living with dementia, showing what good support looks like and how it can make a difference to their lives.
Why is the research needed?
In the UK, there are 850,000 people living with dementia. Guidance states people living with dementia should be offered tailored interventions including non-medication approaches such as lifestyle interventions and social support interventions. Healthcare systems have struggled to respond adequately to this growing burden of complex needs. In the absence of adequate tailored support, complex needs like sleep and behavioural problems, anxiety and low mood associated with isolation could be inappropriately medicalised. Alternative approaches are urgently needed, and Social Prescribing may be a way to deliver this and provide post-diagnostic support to people with dementia living in the community.
What are we doing?
SPLENDID researchers will talk with people with dementia, family carers and staff working in social prescribing to understand what people want, what works well and what could be improved. We will use this to design, with people with dementia, what looks like the best way for social prescribing with people with dementia. We will create some tools (online and face-to-face) to help workers and people with dementia talk and think together about what might help them. We will test it with a small group of people to see if it helps and look at what training Link-Workers need to offer the best support for people with dementia and their families. Finally, we will decide if this should be taken forward and tested in a larger study to see if it improves peoples’ well-being and is value for money.
How are we working with communities, services and organisations?
We work closely with people with dementia and family carers to ensure that the SPLENDID pathway and intervention and study designs are acceptable. We have two co-researchers; one living with dementia and another who has lived experience as a carer. To shape the study, we surveyed 150 people with dementia were to see what social prescribing is currently being offered and found people were doing a range of outdoor and indoor activities, some with family which they enjoyed and found helpful.
We also work with key stakeholders, such as the National Academy for Social Prescribing, Alzheimer’s Society, Together in Dementia Everyday (TIDE), and the UK Network of Dementia Voices.
What will the impact and benefits of this research be?
There is the potential for widespread impact due to the possibilities offered by Social Prescribing for people living with dementia and their families. The findings from this research have the potential to shape Social Prescribing services so they continue or better meet the needs of people living with dementia, their carers and families, and the workforce who support them.
What do we have planned for knowledge mobilisation and implementation?
We are mobilising knowledge through early and ongoing stakeholder engagement, co‑produced accessible materials, and continuous feedback loops. Our implementation evaluation will explore feasibility, acceptability and delivery requirements, allowing findings to shape real‑time refinement during the feasibility phase and inform a scalable implementation strategy for a future full‑scale trial.
Our website will host free resources co‑developed with people with dementia and carers. We will share findings locally and nationally through our links with universities, clinical experts, the press, social media, and workshops with commissioners and service providers. We will also publish in academic and professional journals and present at scientific and public conferences.
Related papers, outputs and resources
Who is involved?
- Joint leads: Professor Chris Fox, University of Exeter
- Joint leads: Dr Jane Cross, University of East Anglia
- Professor Fiona Poland, University of East Anglia
- Professor Lee Shepstone, University of East Anglia
- Dr Emma Wolverson, University of Hull
- Professor Joanne Reeve, University of Hull
- Professor Esme Moniz-Cook, University of Hull
- Professor Martin Orrell, University of Nottingham
- Professor Anthony Avery, University of Nottingham
- Professor Louise Allan, University of Exeter
- Professor Antonieta Medina-Lara, University of Exeter
- Dr Katherine Bradbury, University of Southampton
- Dr Euan Sadler, University of Southampton
- Dr Marie Polley, Meaningful Measures Ltd
- Dr Kritika Samsi, King's College London
- Professor Dame Louise Robinson, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
- George Rook, Representative of people with with dementia
- Anne Irvine, Representative of carer
Get in contact
Email the project team at Splendid.programme@uea.ac.uk.
