Run by the Ku-ring-gai Rotary, inside the YMCA West Pymble Aquatic Centre, there is a dementia group, known as the D’Café.
Dementia clients and their carers, usually wives, husbands, children, and occasionally professionals, come together once a week on Tuesdays.
Together at the Aquatic Centre, the D’Café use the downstairs room for fun, gentle exercises with 60s, 70s, and 90s music playing, under the supervision of an instructor provided by the Aquatic Centre. The group have weights, exercise straps, and soft balls.
The group began six years ago, when Kerry Midlam and her husband Michael, members of the Rotary, attended lectures ad decided to bring the dementia café to fruition. After undergoing an induction course with the Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre, which outlined that the group were required to sit and play boardgames.
But the group evolved, realising they preferred not to simply sit down.
‘We are a really happy group. Some of them have trouble following the exercises, but we are all there to help,’ explains Kerry. ‘If they get mixed up, it doesn’t matter. It’s a nice time.’
After the exercise session, the group gather upstairs to the little café, bringing biscuits and buying drinks from the Aquatic Centre. Purchasing their own tea and coffee is the only expense. On birthdays, they share cake and celebrate.
Alongside providing dementia clients with social stimulation and physical activity, the D’Café serves as a reprieve for the carers, allowing them to speak with each other, share tips, and offer an understanding ear.
‘The carers have a hard time, it’s a terrible disease,’ says Kerry. ‘They can offload, they can tell stories about home what they don’t feel like they can tell others. This is where we have been successful.’
Ages of clients vary from 60 to mid-80s. Currently, KRG Rotary’s D’Café has around 12 to 25 regulars.
‘We are there to do about Rotary is all about… help people,’ says Kerry. ‘We love it, we put a lot of work into it, and we love seeing the happy faces.’
For more information about the D’Café, contact Kerry at 0402 326 332
