Community Dementia Prevention Programme (CDPP) – Monday Club
Summary
Age-Friendly Rhondda Cynon Taf secured funding to develop a pilot grant programme for the benefit of older people locally. Local groups and organisations accessed funds to build awareness of the needs of those living with and affected by dementia and developed additional capacity for the Dementia Friends movement.
Small scale community activities were supported that may help towards dementia risk reduction, namely the following lifestyle changes cited in the Dementia Action Plan for Wales:
1. Be physically active;
2. Maintain a healthy weight;
3. Be socially active.
Monday Club in Beddau received funding enabling them to facilitate 17 different sessions which were attended by 52 different people. These included:
• Seated Pilates; to help maintain or improve flexibility, core strength, posture, balance and co-ordination,
• Craft; including felt work, card making, and festive decorations. Activities help keep hands flexible, exercise eye-hand and brain co-ordination and allow for creative opportunities,
• Information sessions; to ensure members are in receipt of information and advice, allowing for development of knowledge and remaining intellectually active,
• Social activities; including quizzes and reminiscence activities to encourage social interaction, form friendships and prevent isolation,
• Special events including festive gatherings with food and entertainment, singing and dancing to bring everyone together for social interaction, companionship and fun.
All activities were developed in partnership with members, to ensure the wants and needs of the group were met.
The group hosted a Dementia Friends information session delivered by RCT’s Age Friendly Lead Officer where 34 members were able to increase their awareness and understanding of dementia.
Key facts
Older people in general
The CDPP funded project with Monday Club provides opportunities for older people in the local community to get involved in a range of activities hosted at the community library.
Health, Information and communication, Social protection
Build and maintain relationships
- Dementia
- Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
- Inclusion
- Participation
Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):
Engaging the wider community
Volunteers
- Local authorities
- Civil Society Organisation
- Social or health care provider
Monday Club are an established local group for older people who form part of the local Neighbourhood Network, as such, they are in contact with the RCT Together team and became aware of this funding opportunity via this established partnership.
Volunteers from the group were able to discuss their proposals with the team, sharing that they were keen to engage more of the local community post-pandemic being aware of many older people locally who remained isolated and had difficulty re-engaging with community activity.
Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages
Through ongoing engagement mechanisms, many older people report that they would like more opportunities to engage in activity in their local area without the need for travel as this can create a barrier.
Monday Club volunteers regularly consult with their members including those who are new to the group to ensure the activities offered remain in line with the wants and needs of those attending.
Moving forward
No
No
Positive feedback has been received from this organisation, the funding has allowed them to develop additional activities and attract new members whilst fulfilling their aim to provide a safe, warm environment where older people can come together for physical and intellectual stimulation, companionship and support. The group have shared feedback from members, which demonstrates the benefits felt:
• “I specifically enjoyed the Pilates as it helps with my hip arthritis and helps coordinate my brain and body movements. During a discussion with a friend, I discovered she has the beginning of dementia so also looking forward to the talk on dementia as it should prove invaluable.”
• “Monday Club has changed my life. You can feel the warmth of the friendliness in the Club. It is a lifeline. I live on my own so to be able to meet up on a Monday and chat to lots of friendly people is very important to my mental health. I look forward to Mondays.”
Monday Club continue to meet on a weekly basis and have since received additional funding to further support their activities.
Looking back
This was a relatively straightforward practice to instigate, working with established organisations like Monday Club allowed for activities to commence in a timely manner and due to the local knowledge of group’s individual communities good uptake and engagement numbers were achieved.
The only real challenge with this is the limitation of short-term funding, and ensuring activities can continue once established. To mitigate against this securing further longer-term funding would be beneficial.
