A Rotary-led initiative hopes to give people living with dementia, and the carers who support them, somewhere to belong, reports DHWANI PATHAK.

For people living with dementia, something as ordinary as going to a café can become increasingly difficult.

A forgotten word, trouble following a conversation or uncertainty in a familiar place can make people withdraw from the community.

A new cafe in Kambah hopes to open some of them again.

Developed in partnership with Dementia Australia, the Rotary Club of Canberra Weston Creek has launched DCaf, a monthly memory café at the Burns Club, Kanbah, offering people experiencing memory loss or early-stage dementia, and their carers and families, a relaxed space to connect over coffee, music and conversation. 

It is free to attend – 10.30am to noon – with tea, coffee and light refreshments provided. Following its September launch, further sessions are set down for October 14, November 11 and December 9.

Co-ordinator Raji Samprathi says the idea grew out of a desire to tackle the isolation that so often follows a dementia diagnosis, both for the person living with it and for the people caring for them.

“They cut themselves off from the community. People stop interacting,” she says. “It’s almost like the doors are shutting on them.”

Samprathi, a naturopathic counsellor and lifestyle medicine practitioner who also works as a health coach in the ACT government’s Healthy Ageing Program, says the café is deliberately built around connection rather than clinical support.

“This is an opportunity for them to live like normal,” she says. “Yes, they’ve got a bit of memory loss, but that doesn’t stop them from singing, dancing, playing some games with whatever capacity they have.”

Canberra’s DCaf is the thirteenth of its kind to launch through Rotary, following 12 similar cafés already running across Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

Samprathi says the local club has been in contact with the co-ordinator of those programs to shape how the Kambah version will operate.

“It’s about social engagement,” she says. “It’s about people feeling there is an inclusive space where they can connect and feel part of a community, both for the carers and for people living with dementia.”

The format is intentionally informal. She describes it as something closer to catching up with friends over coffee than a structured program, with music, games and themed activities on offer depending on what participants respond to.

Attendance is by pairs only, with each person living with dementia required to bring a carer, family member or support person. 

She is equally focused on the carers who attend, many of whom she says quietly carry their own strain.

“It could be a daughter, a son, a husband or a wife looking after this person,” she says. 

“They really care for this person and they wouldn’t want to leave them by themselves, and so they end up isolated, too. They need support for their own wellbeing.”

The space aims to give carers the opportunity to meet others who understand what they are experiencing.

“It’s just like a café. It’s like going out and having a coffee with a friend,” Raji says.

“If every month they meet the same group of friends, they’re building that relationship with another carer.”

Samprathi speaks from personal experience. Her mother-in-law lived with dementia for about eight years, and she says watching people struggle to communicate with her shaped how she thinks about the café’s purpose.

“It’s about getting them to live as long as they can in a natural way.”

One theme she keeps returning to is the effect of music. Samprathi points to volunteers and family members who have described how a familiar song can reach someone even in advanced stages of dementia, and the club is exploring bringing in local musicians. 

“Music moves everybody,” she says. “You need to tap into what really works for them.”

Volunteers helping run the café have completed a dementia awareness training session, and Samprathi hopes the café will also build broader community confidence in how to interact with people experiencing memory loss.

“There’s nothing wrong with them,” she says. “It’s just building that community awareness about how to interact, and how to be friendly to people living with dementia.”

The café is not a respite service, and carers remain responsible for the person they accompany throughout. For now, sessions will run monthly, though Samprathi says that could change depending on demand.

Anyone wanting to attend is asked to confirm by text message only to 0405 121051 or by email at rajisamprathi@gmail.com 

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