By Abbey Cannan
A little support makes a big difference was the theme for Dementia Action Week (19-25 September), and not-for-profit organisation NoosaCare continue to lead the way for the community.
They kicked off Action Week with a walk to raise awareness, joined by staff and residents along Noosa River on Friday 23 September.
Dementia Australia chief executive officer Maree McCabe AM said, “A little support for people living with dementia really can make a big difference and communities can play a big role in learning more about how they can support people living with dementia.”
“This support can include creating physical environments that are more dementia-friendly and improving understanding and awareness of dementia amongst the community and health care professionals.”
NoosaCare has been incredible at creating these environments, with their Dementia Cafe, and a new 32 bed, two-storey residential building, welcome centre and cafe designed specifically to support those living with dementia.
The dementia cafe runs on a fortnightly basis and is facilitated by Danah Wood from NoosaCare and amazing DementiaLiving volunteers, including Bobby Jory.
Bobby, who has been volunteering with the group for five years, said she encouraged everyone to volunteer.
“I feel personally that I get back a lot more than I give. Once you volunteer, you realise that there’s a lot of history and a lot of love that these people have to give,” Bobby said.
“Everybody needs to be aware that they will be touched by dementia or Alzheimers at some stage of their life. They should learn that it doesn’t discriminate, and to accept the fact that a lot of people living in our community are still isolated due to the diagnosis. There is a lot of support that is available now, and in Noosa, we do it very well. But we do need to get more information out there and take away the stigma from the word.”
Danah Wood said the Dementia Cafe was getting bigger and better.
“We just want the community to know that there is support for them,” she said.
“Anyone can come to the cafe, it’s a free service and we will connect them to support groups if they need any further support. We have so much fun at the cafe and create such amazing relationships.
“We’re constantly connecting with other community providers to put the right tools out there for people who are going through the initial diagnosis or progressing further down, for both the carer and the person living with dementia.”
NoosaCare chief executive officer Megan De’Elton said they were always thinking outside of the box.
“I think that we’re going to start seeing a younger cohort of people living with dementia, from 60 and up. And I think you need to look at the model that you’ve currently got in aged care and you need to adjust it, not only for the new aged-care reforms coming through, but also for the staffing,” Megan said.
“We want to be one step ahead of everybody, so it’s important for us to start that whole change process and really bring our residents and staff and families and volunteers along from the beginning of the journey.
“We want to look at how NoosaCare can deliver services, not just in our aged care community, but externally. So the board is actively reviewing our strategic plan in line with the aged care reform, to see what other services we could potentially implement to support our community. So that’s really exciting.”
For more information on NoosaCare’s dementia project and dementia cafe visit noosacare.com.au
Head to discrimination.dementia.org.au to find out more about how a little support makes a big difference and how you can be part of the change.
