Delivery characteristics of physical activity services in the community for people with dementia in Scotland: a scoping review

Introduction

Physical activity offers a variety of benefits to people with dementia, however, they may face a range of barriers to accessing physical activity opportunities. The Scottish Government have outlined a commitment to ensuring that people with dementia can receive non-pharmacological treatments, including physical activity programmes. This abstract summarises the preliminary findings from a scoping review regarding the availability and delivery characteristics of physical activity interventions for community-dwelling people with dementia in Scotland. 

Methods

The Joanna Briggs Institute process for conducting scoping reviews was adopted. Four bibliographic databases were searched. Grey literature was identified through searches in six locations. Interventions delivered in community facilities, outdoors, or dedicated physical activity spaces in Scotland were eligible if they were tailored to, or inclusive of, community-dwelling adults with self/carer/healthcare professional-reported dementia or mild cognitive impairment. Ethical approval was obtained by the University of Stirling General University Ethics Panel (EC 2025 24089 18663, 11/2025).

Results

A total of 508 sources were identified, and 133 were included in the review. Of these, 102 were classified as primary evidence sources, while 31 provided supplementary information. The majority were websites, with only five peer-reviewed journal articles identified. These included 150 physical activity interventions. Seventy-nine percent of interventions were tailored to people with dementia while 49% were not primarily targeted towards increasing physical activity engagement. Third-sector organisations were the most common providers, and community facilities such as church halls and community centres were the most frequently reported settings. However, many important details regarding the delivery of schemes were under-reported such as duration, cost, and whether pre-booking or referral was required.

Conclusions

Third-sector organisations play a significant role in providing physical activity for community-dwelling people with dementia in Scotland. Investment and training are needed to support organisations to establish, sustain and advertise services.