Making Evaluation Count for people with dementia

The Purpose

Making Evaluation Count involves seeking feedback from people with dementia and carers about the Alzheimer's Society services they receive, such as Dementia Connect. Support to participate is provided in the community or in other settings such as people’s homes.

Alzheimer's Society use this evaluation to help to make sure

• we are working in line with our values 
• we are meeting the needs of people affected by dementia
• we are achieving our objectives, working towards our goals, and being effective.

Data Collection Approach

Making Evaluation Count is an annual, standardised evaluation project at Alzheimer’s Society. A selection of people with dementia and carers who used our services each year are invited to participate in evaluation using a conversational approach.

These conversations may be one to one or in groups – this is dependent upon the way the service is delivered. For example, evaluation data collection for Singing for the Brain service is collected from groups of people with dementia and carers because the service is provided in a group setting.

We collect data face-to-face, over the telephone or Skype, depending on what the person prefers. 

The evaluation questions are designed to be collected in conversation with a trained staff member or volunteer. The questions are not designed for people to take away and complete themselves as if they were filling in a survey or questionnaire

What happened

2018 Services Evaluation (Data published May 2019)

We measured 5 key outcomes with our service users: 

• service users feel supported by staff and volunteers

• service users receive useful information

• service users have increased social contact

• service users have peer support

• our service made each service user's life better in some way.

Overall, the evaluation collected data from more than 7,600 people with dementia (47%) and carers (53%) who used Alzheimer’s Society group and one-to-one services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between April and December 2018.

The findings were positive as both people affected by dementia and carers had at least 96% agreement that these outcomes had been met.

The key theme resulting from the analysis of 2018 data showed that people affected by dementia felt that our services help them to have their voices heard. This means:

• Our services enable people affected by dementia to use their voice to express their needs, preferences and concerns
• Alzheimer’s Society staff and volunteers listen and then use their skills, knowledge and expertise to provide tailored, person-centred support to meet emotional and physical needs
• This empowers people affected by dementia to make decisions, access support, and participate in activities that they enjoy, which they might not have been able to do otherwise
• People affected by dementia also have the opportunity to share their experiences and learn from the experiences of their peers
• Overall, our services help people affected by dementia to feel valued and more in control, confident and able to cope

 'I used to be ashamed of having dementia, I’m not any more.' (person with dementia, Side by Side)

The Results

Awaiting 2018 Spotlights (to be published in May 2019).

What changed for people with dementia

Services evaluation feedback from people with dementia has played a key role in Alzheimer's Society being able to evidence the differences our services have made to those who use them.

• It has provided important insight into gaps in our service offer.
• It has helped us understand how services can be improved.
• Evaluation data has informed Alzheimer's Society's New Deal on Dementia strategy.
• Evaluation data is used by many directorates to inform their work.

Learning points

• Staff should be fully supported to use face to face methods where possible to get the best quality feedback

• It can be more useful to collect richer, good quality feedback from fewer people than a little bit of data from everyone. 

• All opportunities are given to people with dementia to give their feedback as well as to carers.

  • Making Evaluation Count has demonstrated that a move away from self-completion questionnaires has resulted in better quality feedback so we know who has answered the questions and we can ensure that people with dementia’s need are fully met.
• This process is not suitable for people with dementia who lack capacity to take part in the evaluation and/or are unable to answer questions. 

Key contact to find out more

The Evaluation and Impact Team, Alzheimer's Society. Email:  [email protected].

Useful Link

Evidencing our Impact - Alzheimer's Society