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Shirley Evans

Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester

Shirley Evans

Dr Shirley Evans is Director of the Association for Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester. Dr Evans joined the Association for Dementia Studies Research Centre at University of Worcester in 2014, having already established research expertise in digital inclusive education particularly in relation to adults with sight loss. She was appointed as Senior Research Fellow on the ESRC funded MeetingDem project (2014-17) to set up and evaluate Demonstrator Meeting Centres, working closely with the European partners in Netherlands, Italy and Poland. Dr Evan’s contribution ensured MeetingDem achieved significant impact in terms of publications and follow-on implementation and research funding. Dr Evans is a named author on 15 MeetingDem publications. In 2018 she was co-applicant and project manager for funding in excess of £600,000 from the National Lottery and Alzheimer’s Society (2018-21) to build a national infrastructure of Meeting Centres for people affected by dementia across the UK. She managed this successful project through COVID so that the target of 20 Meeting Centres was exceeded and there are now over 70 Meeting Centres in the UK. She is supervising 7 PhD students and contributes to scholarship in community interventions. She is Co-Founder and Chair of Dementia Matters Here (fordshire) which has been responsible for the establishment and/or running of three Meeting Centres in the county as well as a range of other community based interventions including dementia cafes and carers groups. Dr Evans was a Co-applicant on SCI-dem (2018- 2020); Co-lead on the NIHR RPSC Get Real Project (NIHR20186: 2021-23); Co-lead on Crossing the Line (NIHR2029720: 2022 to 2024) and Lead on Food Glorious Food (NIHR205163; 2024 to 2025). She is a member of the InterDem Assistive Technology Task Force.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Countries United Kingdom (England); United Kingdom (Northern Ireland); United Kingdom (Scotland); United Kingdom (Wales);
Topics Ageing in place; Care in rural and other non-urban settings; Care inequalities; Care innovations; Care outcomes; Co-production in LTC; Community-based LTC; Day Care; Dementia care and support; Ethics and care; Evaluation of LTC systems and services; Implementation; Outcome measurement in LTC; Person-centered care; Research gaps and priorities in LTC; Technology and LTC;
Methods Case studies; Co-production methods; Expert consultations; Focus groups; Interviews; Practice-based approaches; Qualitative studies; Research ethics; Scoping reviews; Systematic Review; Theory and frameworks; Theory of Change;
Role Research;
Interest Groups Community-based approaches to dementia care;
Websitehttps://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/profiles/dr-shirley-evans.aspx
ORC.ID0000-0001-6158-1433
X (Twitter)https://x.com/shirleyevans
LinkedInhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/shirley-evans-a1068115
Research interests

Dr Evan’s research interests including:- dementia and post-diagnostic support; education, technology and inclusion; lifelong learning; coproduction; implementing, running and researching third sector organisations; qualitative research
Key publications

Bray, J., Evans, S., Lord, N. & Payne-Lunn S. (2024). Community engagement with heritage-based resources online. Journal of Dementia Care, 32(3), 38-41

Morton, T., Evans, S.B., Swift, R., Bray, J., Frost, F. & Russell, C. (2024). Reaching people and managing membership in community-based dementia support groups: The Get Real with Meeting Centres Realist Evaluation Part 1, Aging & Mental Health, https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2356885

Morton, T., Evans, S. B., Swift, R., Bray, J., Frost, F., Russell, C., Brooker, D., Wong, G. & Hullah, N. (2024). Strategic and operational issues in sustaining community-based dementia support groups: the Get Real with Meeting Centres realist evaluation part 2. Aging & Mental Health, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2372058

Tinelli, M., Morton, T., Bray, J., Henderson, C., Frost, F., & Evans, S. (2024). Using choice modelling to inform service sustainability for dementia Meeting Centres for people living with dementia in the UK. Aging & Mental Health, 28(12), 1713–1725. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2375609

Evans, S.B. & Twigg, J. (2023). The online leisure environment. In Gray, K., Russell, C. & Twigg, J. (2023). Leisure and everyday life with dementia. Open University Press

Edwards, P., Lee, K., Evans, S., Williamson, T. & Woods, S. (2023). Is the proposed Major Conditions Strategy, covering illnesses like cancer and heart disease as well as dementia, the right answer or should dementia have a strategy of its own? Journal of Dementia Care, 31(3) 10-11

Stephens, N., Evans, S., Russell, C., & Brooker, D. (2023). Understanding ‘value’ in the context of community-based interventions for people affected by dementia: A concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 00, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15886

Morton, T., Evans, S. B., Swift, R., Bray, J. & Frost, F. (2023). The legacy of COVID-19 in dementia community support: ongoing impacts on the running of Meeting Centres. Working with Older People. (In Press). doi: 10.1108/WWOP-03-2023-0006

Russell, C., Kohe, G.Z., Evans, S.B, and Brooker, D. (2022) Rethinking Spaces of Leisure: How People Living with Dementia Use the Opportunities Leisure Centres Provide to Promote their Identity and Place in the World, International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure. doi: 10.1007/s41978-022-00121-x

Morton, T., Evans, S.B., Brooker, D., Williamson, T., Wong, G., Tinelli, M., Frost, F., Bray, J. & Hullah, N. (2022). Sustainability of locally driven centres for those affected by dementia: a protocol for the get real with meeting centres realist evaluation. BMJ Open,12(5) e062697. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062697

Evans, S., Brooker, D., Bray, J., Stephens, N., (2022), The Essential Features of Meeting Centres: development of the UK criteria for community support for people affected by dementia, Working with Older People, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 191-201. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-03-2022-0009

Evans, S., Harrison, M., Morgan, N., Kilkenny, C. and Morton, T. (2022), Community makers: report on developing an online toolkit for supporting people with dementia to connect during the pandemic and beyond, Working with Older People, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-01-2022-0002

Gerritsen, D., van der Roest, H., Evans, S.B., Leontjevas, R., Prins, M., Brooker, D. & Dröes, R.M (In Press expected 2022) Chapter 13: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of people living with dementia. In M. van den Bulcke and E. Schokkaert (Eds) Dementia & Society: Cambridge University Press

Evans, S.B., Bray, J., and Brooker, D. (2021), How Meeting Centres continue to support people affected by dementia: report on UK COVID-19 impact, Working with Older People

Henderson, C., Rehill, A., Brooker, S., Evans, S.C., Evans, S.B., Bray, J., Saibene, F.L., Scorolli, C., Szcześniak, D., d’Arma, A., Urbanska, K., Atkinson, T., Farina, E., Rymaszewska, J., Chattat, R., Meiland, F.J.M., Dröes, R.M., Knapp, M. (2021), Costs and Cost-Effectiveness of the Meeting Centres Support Programme for People Living with Dementia in Italy, Poland and the UK: The MEETINGDEM Study. Health and Social care in the Community

Morton, T., Brooker, D., Wong, G., Atkinson, T & Evans, S.B. (2021) Keeping community groups and activities going – Sustainable Community Interventions for people affected by Dementia: Recommendations for practice from the SCI-Dem Project. University of Worcester ISBN 978-0-903607-33-9

Morton, T., Brooker, D., Wong, G., Atkinson, T. & Evans, S.B. (2021) Sustaining community groups and activities for people affected by dementia: Recommendations from the SCI-Dem Project for commissioners and policy-makers. University of Worcester ISBN 978-0-903607-34-6

Morton, T., Brooker, D., Wong, G., Atkinson, T. & Evans, S.B. (2021) Helping your community group or activity club to keep going strong: Suggestions for members of groups and clubs from the SCI-Dem Review. University of Worcester ISBN 978-0-903607-35-3

Dorota Szcześniak, Joanna Rymaszewska, Francesca Lea Saibene, Katarzyna Małgorzata Lion, Alessia D’arma, Dawn Brooker, Shirley B. Evans, Simon C. Evans, Rabih Chattat, Claudia Scorolli, Franka Meiland, Iris Hendriks, Rose-Marie Dröes & Elisabetta Farina (2021) Meeting centres support programme highly appreciated by people with dementia and carers: a European cross-country evaluation, Aging & Mental Health, 25:1, 149-159, DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2019.1683814

Katarzyna Małgorzata Lion, Dorota Szcześniak, Katarzyna Bulińska, Justyna Mazurek, Shirley B. Evans, Simon C. Evans, Francesca Lea Saibene, Alessia d’Arma, Claudia Scorolli, Elisabetta Farina, Dawn Brooker, Rabih Chattat, Franka J. M. Meiland, Rose-Marie Dröes, Joanna Rymaszewska. (2021) Does the Meeting Centre Support Programme decrease the experience of stigmatisation among people with cognitive deficits?. Aging & Mental Health 25:1, pages 160-169.

Russell, C., Kohe, G.Z., Brooker, D. and Evans, S. (2020) ‘Sporting Identity, Memory, and People with Dementia: Opportunities, Challenges, and Potential for Oral History’, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 36(13-14), pp.1157-1179. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2019.1703690.

Urbanska, K., Szcześniak D, Evans,S…., et al (2019), Do people with dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairments experience Stigma? A cross-cultural investigation between Italy, Poland and the UK, Aging and Mental Health (awaiting publication);

Evans, S., Brooker, D., Evans, S., et al, (2018), The impact of the implementation of the Dutch combined Meeting Centres Support Programme for family caregivers of people with dementia in Italy, Poland and UK, Aging and Mental Health, 6:1-11 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1544207;

Brooker D, Evans S, Evans S, et al. Evaluation of the implementation of the Meeting Centres Support Program in Italy, Poland, and the UK; exploration of the effects on people with dementia. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018;33:883–892. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4865

Szcześniak, D., Dröes, R., Meiland, F., Brooker, D., Evans, S, B., et al (2018). Does the community-based combined Meeting Center Support Programme (MCSP) make the pathway to day-care activities easier for people living with dementia? A comparison before and after implementation of MCSP in three European countries. International Psychogeriatrics, 30(11), 1717-1734. doi:10.1017/S1041610217002885;

Brooker D, Evans S, Evans S, et al. (2018), Evaluation of the implementation of the Meeting Centres Support Program in Italy, Poland, and the UK; exploration of the effects on people with dementia. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018;33:883–892. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4865

Evans, S.B., Evans, S.C., Bray, J., (2017), The iPad project: Introducing iPads into care homes in the UK to support digital inclusion Journal of Gerontechnology (under review);

Meiland, F., Innes, A., Mountain, G., Robinson, R., van der Roest, H., Antonio, J., Gove, D., Thyrian, R., Evans, S., Dröes, R.M., Franco-Martín, M., (2017), Technologies to support community-dwelling persons with dementia: an INTERDEM position paper on issues regarding development, usability, (cost)effectiveness, implementation and ethics under review Journal of Medical Internet Research [online] http://rehab.jmir.org/

Brooker, D., Droes, R. M., Evans, S., (2016), Framing outcomes of post-diagnostic psychosocial interventions in dementia: The Adaptation-Coping Model and Adjusting to Change. Working with Older People. Vol 21: Issue 1