Memory cafés create communities for people living with dementia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Australians are living with dementia, and for many WA residents, memory cafés are helping ease such changes.

Transcript

00:00On the last Monday of every month, at a local cafe in the regional West Australian city

00:07of Bunbury, a special kind of get together takes place.

00:10It's really just a chance for people with Alzheimer's and dementia and their loved ones

00:15or their carers to socialise together in a safe space where they're understood.

00:21Providing a dementia friendly space filled with coffee, cake and camaraderie.

00:26There's a bit of networking, there's general chit chat, sharing hobbies and sometimes thrashing

00:32one another at Jenga and Domino's.

00:35Much needed relief for what is often described as an isolating condition.

00:39The more people that know about the dementia cafe or the memory cafe, the better because

00:46it's fabulous to make new friends and have someone to talk to.

00:50And a light in the dark for those living with dementia.

00:52I'm delighted that I found it.

00:55According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 420,000 people currently

00:59live with some form of dementia.

01:02That number is expected to double by the year 2058.

01:05Dementia is increasing in Kerbal and it's approximately every six minutes someone somewhere

01:10in Australia is diagnosed with dementia.

01:12These memory cafes create that social engagement and inclusion in our communities.

01:17An initiative experts say is crucial.

01:20One of the things we do know, it's very important for people with dementia to remain socially

01:25active so that people with dementia don't stop being the people that they were previously.

01:31Reinforcing positive brain development.

01:34It has all sorts of other benefits for the mental health of older people and possibly

01:39decreasing the risk of cognitive decline.

01:42And making a more inclusive world for everyone, one coffee at a time.

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