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.
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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.