Dementia community memory hubs

Oakley Vale Memory Hub – a service created for people living with dementia and their carers 

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (NHFT) and Northamptonshire Carers, in association with the Alzheimer’s Society Northamptonshire, considered ways that dementia care could be provided through a collaborative approach. Memory hubs combinine a psychosocial approach with input from health professionals.

The Challenge

Dementia is a global societal challenge. In the early stages, people may experience memory loss, issues with language, disorientation to time and place and other challenges with executive function. An estimated 944,000 people live with a dementia diagnosis, which is predicted to rise to 1.6 million by 2050 in the UK (Alzheimer’s Research, 2022). As of 2023, approximately 8,200 people are living in Northamptonshire with a diagnosis of dementia, the majority of live in their own homes or sheltered accommodation, and are in need of social care services and support.

The solution

The model is a social support group for people with dementia and their loved ones. It incorporates best practice from other community provision models and has been introduced to offer integrated care to individuals diagnosed with dementia and their family carers. The hubs identify a gap in service provision for those who have been recently diagnosed with dementia and combine a psychosocial approach with input from health professionals who deliver 2hr sessions each week to groups of up to 20. 

An evaluation funded by HIEM focused on the social support group element of the hub (known as the Oakley Vale and St Crispin Memory Clubs) by assessing the efficacy of these groups in improving the psychosocial issues faced by individuals with a diagnosis and their carers, post-diagnosis.

Impact and outcomes

• Positive feedback from members who described it as ‘a valuable and much needed service. For those diagnosed with dementia it provided support for their social and cognitive functions. For families, the memory hub provides peer support and provides an outlet that helps them to manage their role as carers while being with others.
• Staff reported finding a personal and professional benefit from working at the memory hubs. They could see the benefits through the relationships and friendships being formed. Some challenges were raised, which focused on the way the Hubs were growing and how the service could support more people without losing the quality of what had been achieved to date. This included a review of the referral approach and how people could be supported to transition out of the memory hub when it was no longer of benefit to them.
• Stakeholders considered the memory hub to have a good fit with the plans for the county’s new dementia strategy and that it filled a gap in the provision of services for those who are newly diagnosed and living in the community. However, they identified that this evaluation provided a positive opportunity to review the progress to date and to explore ways that the service can be scaled up, and how it can be sustainable.

 The evaluation focussed on the original two localities set up although during the evaluation period, more sites were set up across the county based on the early success of the project.

Mental health innovation – evaluation showcase

We held an evaluation showcase featuring mental health innovations that have been evaluated in our region. The webinar featured a presentation from the team and evaluators behind the programme.

Listen back

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