Can the tailored meeting centre support programme modify the experience of stigma among people with dementia? MEETINGDEM study in Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom

Introduction.– Very little is known about experiencing stigma in dementia and factors which may influence it. The study was conducted within the JPND-funded MEETINGDEM project (2014–2017) which aimed to adapt and implement the Meeting Centre Support Programme (MCSP) for people with dementia and their carers in Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. Objectives.– To study if the experience of stigma is influenced by participation in the MCSP as compared to care as usual. Methods.– People living with dementia recruited to participate in the study were assessed regarding the stigma experience (SIS), their depressive symptoms (CSDD), quality of life (DQoL, AOL-AD), obtained social support (DSSI) before and after 7 months of using MCSP (n = 65) or usual care (n = 49) available in Italy, Poland and the UK. Obtained data were statistically analysed using e.g. KruskalWallis test or ANCOVAs. Results.– People with dementia in all countries experienced stigma, although there were differences between countries and between MCSP and UC users. Statistically significant changes among MCSP users compared to the UC, after 7 months, were noticed for Social Isolation in Poland (P = 0.000) and for Social Rejection in the UK (P = 0.03). There were no significant changes in stigma experiences among people in Italy or among the whole group. Conclusions.– People with dementia, living in Italy, Poland and the UK, experience stigmatisation. This study results shows that there may be a possibility of influencing the experience of stigmatisation via delivering adjusted support as MCSP. But there is still a need for further research in this field. Disclosure of interest.– The authors have not supplied a conflict of interest statement.