Come To The Cameo Café Real Life
The café that is building social contact for people with dementia, allowing them to live within their communities
Ibecame involved in the Dementia Café because I’d seen someone close to me develop the condition and the struggle of a loved one who carried the burden of their care,” says Carol Dunnell (67), from North Walsham, Norfolk.
“As recently as 15 years ago, there wasn’t the awareness there is today, or the help for people caring for those living with dementia. There was nowhere to go to get support in the wider community,” says Carol, “and people really struggled.”
A transformation came in 2015, when Age UK worked to make North Walsham a “Dementia Friendly Community”. The concept is that those living with dementia are respected and supported in continuing to live in the place they call home. Everyone from shop keepers to the local police are involved in making residents feel safe and valued.
On the Steering Group with Age UK, Carol began working closely with retired SRN Doreen Bland, who had worked for the Salvation Army’s Older People’s Services. They became founder members of the North Walsham Dementia Support Group and helped launch the CAMEO – Come And Meet Each Other – Café.
“We wanted to create a non-judgmental, secure and inclusive space for those living with dementia,” explains Carol. “But also for the ‘forgotten people’ – the carers who have to battle alone after the diagnosis of a loved one or friend.”
“Not long ago attitudes were very different,” says Doreen. “Dementia was often not properly diagnosed and people were simply referred to as ‘senile’.” She says there wasn’t the knowledge about different types of dementia and how to care properly for those living with the disease and feels that “relatives didn’t want to discuss it – it was something of a stigma”.
“When Cameo first opened we were nervous about how many would turn up!” admits Doreen. There
The café is a secure and d iinclusive space for those living with dementia
were six at the initial meeting but after two months the café became so popular they had to open twice a week.
Supported financially by grants and donations, the café is open Tues & Thurs, 10am-3pm with lunch, and refreshments. There is entertainment from singing, dancing, dominoes to laughing yoga, seated Zumba, and meeting owls!
These activities provide stimulation and the ability to socialise – crucial for the 30 people currently registered with them and who find the regularity very important.
The café can sometimes provide something even more essential. “Some of the guests are living alone with dementia,” says Doreen. “We can ensure they get a good meal twice a week.”
Carol explains it’s not only human contact that reaps rewards, but also interaction with animals and children.
“Amazingly, short-term contact, be it with an owl or a PAT (Pets As Therapy) Dog, can bring someone who seems lost in their own world back to life,” she says.
She also describes how incredible it is that someone who can’t even speak a sentence can remember whole verses of songs and keep in time with the music. “Singing seems to bring something back to them.”
“We have never been busier, with 25 volunteers helping out,” says Doreen. “It’s wonderful to see how friendships and mutual support develop among our guests and their carers. Many have described the Cameo Café as their ‘lifeline’.’’
Somewhere like Cameo can also have a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of those living with dementia and ultimately the local medical services.
“If there were more places like ours,” she says, “there would be fewer people going to their GPs, and less hospital admissions because people here are being listened to and supported.” Doreen says what the café provides can also have huge beneficial effects in fighting one of the cruellest symptoms of dementia: depression.
“People will forget what you’ve said, people will forget what you did, but never how you made them feel,” says Doreen. “We always make sure our guests leave the café feeling safe, happy and loved.”