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Review
. 2024 Aug;28(8):1078-1089.
doi: 10.1080/13607863.2024.2356878. Epub 2024 Jun 8.

Operationalising the Recovery College model with people living with dementia: a realist review

Melanie Handley  1 , Charlotte Wheeler  2 , Claire Duddy  3 , Geoff Wong  3 , Linda Birt  4   5 , Chris Fox  6 , Esme Moniz-Cook  7 , Corinna Hackmann  2   8 , Bonnie Teague  2   8 , Juniper West  2
Affiliations
Review

Operationalising the Recovery College model with people living with dementia: a realist review

Melanie Handley et al. Aging Ment Health. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: Post-diagnostic support is a significant factor in facilitating personal recovery following a diagnosis of dementia, but access is often inconsistent and insufficient. Recovery Colleges offer peer-led, co-produced courses that can support people to have meaningful lives and have been adapted for use in the context of dementia. A realist review was conducted to understand the application and sustainability of Recovery College dementia courses.

Method: An iterative, five-step process combined literature published to 2023 with knowledge from stakeholders with lived and professional experience of dementia involved with Recovery College dementia courses (PROSPERO registration CRD42021293687).

Results: Thirty-five documents and discussions with 19 stakeholders were used to build the initial programme theory comprising of 24 context-mechanism-outcome configurations. Reoccurring factors included: attending to aspects of co-production and course delivery to ensure they promoted inclusion and were not compromised by organisational pressures; how stigma impacted access to course opportunities; and embedding personal recovery principles throughout course development to be relevant for people living with dementia and those who support them.

Conclusion: People struggling to reconcile their future alongside dementia need practical and emotional support to access and benefit from Recovery College dementia courses, ways to achieve this will be explored through a realist evaluation.

Keywords: Dementia; Recovery Colleges; co-production; post-diagnostic support; realist review.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The realist review process.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PRISMA flow diagram of searches and evidence retrieval.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Initial programme theory of co-producing Recovery College dementia courses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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