I Can Do: Co-Designing a Service with and for People with Dementia to Engage with Volunteering

Abstract

This article reports on the co-development of the concept of a skills exchange service for people with early to mid-stage dementia. The service was co-designed with people with dementia, carers and professionals from the health, care and volunteer sectors in Greater Manchester, UK. The idea for the service arose from the recognition that it is important to people with dementia to be able to continue contributing to the life of others and to be valued for it, but that there is little support for people to do so. The initial data collection with stakeholders into opportunities and barriers in Greater Manchester provided key insights as a starting point for the service concept development. For its development, seven co-design workshops were held: two with people with dementia and five with carers and health, care and volunteer professionals. The outcome was the development of the concept and criteria of the I Can Do Pathway to support people with a dementia diagnosis in identifying their interests and strengths and to connect them with relevant volunteer opportunities. The article explains the transformative co-design process and its results, followed by a reflection of the insights of designing a new service within an existing service system.