Evaluation of the HSE and Genio Dementia Programme
Genio is an Irish-based non-profit organisation, specialising in social service transformation. They work with government and philanthropy to support people in leading self-determined lives, such as those living with dementia, mental health difficulties, disabilities and people experiencing homelessness. The HSE & Genio Dementia Programme developed incrementally since 2012 with assistance from the Atlantic Philanthropies and the HSE, supporting the development of innovative service models to improve the range and quality of community and hospital-based services for people with dementia. Since 2011, innovation funding has been awarded to nine regional community-based initiatives and three projects in acute hospitals. In the hospital sector, funding was awarded in 2013 to projects in St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Mercy University Hospital in Cork, and Connolly Hospital, Dublin, to develop ICPs for people with dementia. The projects aimed to reduce inappropriate admissions, accelerate supported discharges and enhance collaboration with community-based health and social care supports, as well as ensure that the person with dementia’s journey into and out of acute care is appropriately planned and managed.
Since 2011, innovation funding has been awarded to nine regional community-based projects focused on developing a range of personalised, flexible and responsive supports and services to help people with dementia to live well in their community for longer. In 2013, five projects were funded to develop personalised supports in the community in Louth, Kilkenny, Mallow, Roscommon and Leitrim. The experience and learning from each project is shared through a learning network with a view to providing peer support, knowledge exchange and supporting sustainability and scaling. The findings and ongoing learning from the projects contribute to building leadership in the dementia sector, and informing public policy and investment in the area with a view to supporting the implementation of the Irish National Dementia Strategy.
In 2014, a team of researchers in TCD and NUI Galway were commissioned to evaluate the HSE & Genio Dementia Programme 2013, focusing on the three hospital sites and two of the community projects (Memory Matters in Carlow/Kilkenny and the Community Outreach Dementia Project Leitrim).
The research team includes the following: Professor Anne-Marie Brady P.I, Prof Mary McCarron, Dr Louise Daly, Dr Brian Keogh & Dr Mairead Bracken-Scally.