CHANGES IN MEASURES OF DEMENTIA AWARENESS IN UK CHURCH CONGREGATIONS FOLLOWING A ‘DEMENTIA FRIENDLY’ INTERVENTION: A PRE-POST COHORT STUDY

Given their stability, their ability to influence public attitudes and capacity to mobilise human resources, it seems likely that many faith communities can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of people living with dementia (PLWD) and their carers, who may be dependent on the commitment of informal communities of support over months or years.

This paper reports on a pre-post cohort study undertaken in an Anglican (Church of England) Diocese in the UK. Representatives (N=61) of 11 church communities completed the Dementia Awareness Scale immediately before and 12 months after an intervention to promote ‘Dementia Friendly Church’ in their congregation. Results showed a robust improvement in scores on both the ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Comfort’ subscales, with the largest effect size in the latter. Within each subscale, improvements were evenly distributed across the individual items.

These findings indicate that such an intervention is likely to significantly improve the environment for people living with dementia and their companions who are members of or engage with the Church community. They also suggest that a similar programme could be extended to other intentional communities, whether in faith-based organisations or societies with shared interests.