New dementia-friendly cafe opens in Cork town

WHEN Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler arrived in Macroom to officially open its new ‘Memory Café’, the sun was shining, welcoming people to the new community venue.

The Next Door Café project in the Castle Hotel was spearheaded by the Alzhemeir’s support group, Friends of ASI Macroom, marking the next step in its commitment to creating supports and services for people living with dementia and their families in the Cork town.

In April, 2023, the Friends of ASI (Alzheimer Society of Ireland) hosted a dementia-inclusive community event in Macroom which led to the creation of Friends of ASI Macroom, a group of leaders dedicated to creating a dementia-inclusive town.

“There was a lot of the work done locally,” says Rory Buckley, whose family own the Castle Hotel in Macroom. 

We were delighted to facilitate the Memory Café for the Friends of ASI Macroom.

“The Next Door Café is a lovely space for people to meet, to connect and have a chat together,” says Rory. “We hope everybody enjoys it.”

Mary Buckley, who is a caregiver for her mother, Eileen O’Connell, who has dementia, welcomed the new facility.

“The Next Door Café will offer a familiar surrounding and familiar faces for my mother and others like her,” says Mary, who cares for her mother along with her sister, Julie, who is Mrs O’Connell’s primary caregiver, and their brother, Jerry.

“The café will be a great social outlet for mam.”

Mary recalls her mother’s diagnosis.

“In 2019, mam had a fall, 12 months ago, she was diagnosed with Dementia/Alzheimer’s.

“While she was in hospital for three months after falling, our dad passed away. Mam had a few TIAs (temporary blockages of blood to the brain) which may have done damage,” says Mary.

Covid also delayed getting a formal diagnosis/assessment for mam.

Each individual with Alzheimer’s progresses differently.

“Mam is very good really,” says Mary. “She lives with my sister Julie.

“She is not declining at a fast rate due to Alzheimer’s. She’s a bit flat, but she knows us all and asks us if there’s ‘any news?’

“She can be a bit forgetful, and her short-term memory is poor.

“Mam isn’t able to get out to meet people as her mobility is compromised, she uses a stick and is dependent on people.”

Eileen gets good care, bringing her even closer to her family.

“Our brother Jerry comes to sit with mam once a week for an afternoon when Julie is working, as mam doesn’t like being alone,” says Mary. “We also have another lady who sits with mam two other afternoons, from 2pm-5pm, to keep her company while Julie is working.”

Eileen, always a social person and immersed in her community, will enjoy visiting The Next Door Café.

“Mam and others like her will love going out to the café for a chat and a cuppa and a catch-up,” says Mary.

The O’Connells were well-known publicans in the town.

“My mam and dad ran a pub in the middle square in Macroom for most of their married lives, The Hole in the Wall, until they retired out of it in the late ’90s,” says Mary.

“They’d both have known so many people from Macroom and surrounds.”

Eileen likes being involved in her community.

“My mother has great faith and she used to be involved in prayer meetings and helped so many people until she fell in 2019. She declined from then really,” says Mary.

“As mam no longer lives in her own house or is able to operate a phone, people wouldn’t call in or ring her like they did in the past. Being alone is a real challenge for her and Covid didn’t help that.

The café will be a great social outlet for mam.

The Next Door Café is accessible to all.

“It is in a great location,” says Mary. “The car park is accessible, and the café is easy to get to which will draw a lot of people.”

Mary is thrilled that her mother now has a place to greet, meet, and re-connect with people.

“Since she’s not able to get out herself and meet people, the cafe provides a wonderful opportunity for mam to meet all the people she knows and who know her.”

So Eileen will get all the news?

“Yes, she will!” laughs Mary.

Marian Kelleher, whose husband Tadhg lives with dementia and accesses ASI Services, agrees with Mary.

“It’s great for us to have a place to pop in and have a tea and talk to people going through the same situation,” says Marian.

“It’s really lovely and it’ll give us an opportunity to socialise with people.”

Head of Operations and Community Engagement at the ASI, Siobhan O’Connor said: “It’s an honour for me to open any service and it’s a special bonus when it’s my home town.

“I want to thank the Friends of ASI Macroom for taking the lead on this and creating a safe space for people living with dementia and their families in Macroom to come and spend some time with people in similar situations.

“Living with the condition can be a lonely experience, so having this space every month can be a great outlet for people. 

A special thanks to Rory Buckley and his staff at the Castle Hotel for opening their doors to us.

“What a difference a year has made, and it just shows what can be achieved when a community responds.

“I am so proud of the range of services now available in the Macroom area for people living with dementia and their families.”

An estimated 7,509 people live with dementia in Cork and 63% of people with dementia live in the community in Ireland.

Memory Cafés provide a warm and welcoming space for people with dementia, their family and friends, and a place for social and health care professionals to meet, exchange ideas and learnings.

Usually, an expert speaker is invited each month to talk to the café about a topic of interest. The venue is also a space to chat and enjoy a social occasion in a supportive environment.

The Friends of ASI is a dementia-inclusive programme that includes training, awareness, education, and services and aims to encourage people, businesses and services to create a more nurturing and accepting environment for people living with dementia and their families in their community.

People living with dementia are among the most marginalised in our society and can often face social exclusion and stigma.

This initiative is working alongside the HSE’s Dementia: Understand Together, a national partnership between the ASI, HSE, Age Friendly Ireland, Age & Opportunity, Dementia Services Information and Development Centre, and Healthy Ireland, and encourages community members and people living with dementia to make their communities more dementia inclusive.

The Café is based on an international model and usually opens monthly in the early evening. Some cafés open during the day, and all provide light refreshments and a mix of education and support.