00:00I'm Sandra Ferdon, my husband Bart had dementia.
00:05I discovered that there was hardly anywhere that we could go that he would feel safe and
00:10I would be able to take him to.
00:14And we came up with the idea of having a place where we could go together, have him entertained
00:22and I could finally talk to other people that went through the same.
00:26We do have an ageing community in Nilembic and the Nilembic Dementia Alliance came to
00:30us with an idea and a program where they're actually supporting dementia patients, where
00:36they're actually giving them an activity to do, but most importantly as well as supporting
00:40their carers.
00:41The Nilembic Dementia Friendly Alliance is a group of volunteers that support community members
00:47in Nilembic.
00:48It is through the memory care cafes, through raising awareness and fundraising to run this
00:54support for our community.
00:55They provide a venue for people like myself who are carers, who care for usually their
01:02partner with some form of dementia, to come and have respite and the patients they are actually
01:13doing some cognitive stimulation therapy.
01:16When you find that the person that you're caring for has been diagnosed with dementia, it's a
01:22hard road to follow.
01:23It's difficult because you really don't know what to do and where to go and memory care
01:29cafes actually help you to feel like you can do this because other people have done it and
01:36they can help you on your journey.
01:38I'm surprised sometimes how little people know about what they can do, you know, but it's
01:45also you have to almost have studied it.
01:47It's so complicated.
01:49They've never asked for anything.
01:50They haven't signed up with my aged care.
01:53They have no clue how to do that.
01:55They often think they don't need it yet, but they don't realize that if you start a process
02:00now you might be lucky if you have money in a year.
02:03So all those things are things that we, at a cafe, we help with.
02:07For others who haven't been there say, oh, I know how you feel, but you think, hang on,
02:11no, you haven't a clue how I feel, you're not there 24-7.
02:15I've found this just been very comforting, lots of information that I wouldn't have known before
02:19and I'm able to help other people now too.
02:21What we do in the room with the people is just have some fun, have a chat.
02:25They get to see the same people usually every week.
02:28It's just a matter of having some afternoon tea, then some games, even though sometimes
02:32the people don't remember what they did.
02:34But for me, it's important to try and do different things because it triggers their memory.
02:39It also helps them.
02:40They don't tend to hopefully progress as much.
02:43The people who are living with dementia also get so much out of it because they aren't isolated anymore.
02:50They're socially connected with other people who have dementia.
02:53They do cognitive stimulating activities that are fantastic for helping them in their journey
03:01and they enjoy it and it's a comfortable, nice space to be in.
03:06The Nilembic Friendly Dementia Alliance have so much knowledge and skill, both from lived experience
03:12and from their professional backgrounds, that with backing and support, they could help roll
03:20this out in other shires.
03:22The feedback we get from carers, the benefit it has for community members is outstanding
03:27and I really feel that this should be something that is available to all people.
03:31I think it needs to be in every area, somewhere for people to go to find out just what is
03:35happening
03:35and what can I do about it and I'm not on my own.
03:40I think it should be in all areas and I think too it would be great to have doctors
03:44be able to recommend it and say look this is somewhere that you can go,
03:48among others who already are in your situation or have been there.
03:52It's not easy being a carer for somebody who is disabled in this way
03:56and the fact that you can get away from the home environment and get to meet other people
04:04in the same situation, it's great.
04:07Most of our volunteers have some lived experience with dementia
04:10so I think that the volunteers get a lot out of it as well.
04:13They really do come to a place where people understand and get it
04:17and that's a really important part of what the cafes offer.
04:21We see lots of people who brings them joy, it brings them relief, it brings them respite
04:28and it certainly brings a smile to everyone's face.
04:32The carers for the first time feel like I'm not by myself.
04:36I have people that understand me. Huge.
04:39I never realised how huge it is to feel that way.
04:43And the carers just getting together and socialising a bit,
04:47talking about what you can do and what you can't do and understand the whole lot.
