On a sunny Friday at the end of a busy Dementia Action Week we were pleased to welcome Sladana (Sladja) Pavkovic from the University of Tasmania, Australia, as presenter of a Meeting Centres webinar looking at ‘Past and future of the Meeting Centre Support Programme in a contrasting economic context’. Sladja has been visiting different UK Meeting Centres this week after previously being in the Netherlands, and was coming to us live from the Meeting Centre in Alton, Hampshire.
After a welcome from Dr Shirley Evans, Sladja began by providing some background about her professional home at the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania. She also set the context about Australia, where the quality of healthcare is considered to be high with well-trained professionals and modern medical facilities.
The first Meeting Centre in Australia opened in 2018 as part of a 6-month pilot program led by Sydney University, supporting 12 couples and one person with no partner for three days a week. Despite high levels of satisfaction with the Meeting Centre, it faced a number of issues including misunderstandings among other organisations who saw the Meeting Centre as competition and so were reluctant to refer people to it. There was also a low level of dementia literacy in the community, highlighting the need for a campaign to raise awareness of dementia. Promotion of the Meeting Centre was also impacted by a lack of positive results from the pilot – in part relating to the lack of a comparison group – which discouraged some organisations from taking things further.
The second Meeting Centre opened in Sydney in a Community Centre and aligned with work already taking place in a nearby disability centre with people with younger onset dementia. The Meeting Centre offers a range of activities also has a carer support group and provides education sessions for the wider community. Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic forced everything to stop, and the Meeting Centre has not yet been able to reopen, although there are hopefully plans underway to change this.
Next, Sladja took us to Serbia where she grew up. Life expectancy is around 75 years, but dementia is not really recognised until it has reached the later stages. Serbia also faces a significant issue with skilled workers emigrating to other countries. Despite the challenges, Sladja is hoping to build on the existing support being offered by one organisation to provide more support along the lines of a Meeting Centre, and is very driven to make this happen. After hearing Sladja’s passion during her presentation, we don’t doubt that it will!
Sladja ended by looking at her future plans in both Australia and Serbia, which included providing volunteer placements for students at Meeting Centres and making use of abandoned cultural centres. As always, funding needs to be considered, but there are options that Sladja is exploring. Watch this space…
After the presentation there was an opportunity for questions and discussion, where the importance of community support and buy-in was raised as Sladja appears to be a lone voice, particularly in Serbia. Forming links with arts organisations is an option that Sladja is looking to explore, as this could open up different opportunities – especially around funding. The issue of referrals was also raised, as good referral pathways have helped some Meeting Centres, while word of mouth has been particularly beneficial for others. It was great to see ideas being shared between different Meeting Centres around what has worked for them and where they are still facing challenges.
Many thanks to Sladja for sharing her experiences and providing perspectives from two very different countries.
If you were unable to attend the webinar you can watch it back here.
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