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The LGBTI+ Memory Lane Cafe offers members of the LGBTQIA+ community who also have dementia a place to socialise, and to be included. Dementia is the leading cause of death for Australian women, and social interaction is one of 14 modifiable risk factors that could reduce the number of people with dementia in Australia by 45%.
The regular attendees at Memory Lane Cafe agreed that, for the final meeting of 2024, they wanted drag bingo.
“We have a variety of musical entertainment at the cafe, and we asked the attendees what they want. The attendees wanted to mix it up a little bit for the final cafe [session] for the year and instead of the usual musical entertainment, they were interested in having drag bingo, and it was really well received,” said Dementia Australia’s Client Services State Manager for Victoria, Jacinta Allen.
“Some of the usual musical entertainment is older, some of it’s more modern. We base it on the needs and the wants of the attendees,” she said.
Ms Allen said that the key focus of the cafe is inclusion.
“From the moment you walk through the door, you are warmly welcomed,” she said.
Memory Lane Cafe is a partnership between Dementia Australia, Lifeview (an aged care provider in Melbourne), and the Victorian Pride Centre, held at the Victorian Pride Centre in Melbourne.
The cafe, which is held every 6 weeks at the Victorian Pride Centre in St Kilda, is designed to provide a safe and inclusive pop-up space for people from LGBTIQ+ communities living with dementia, and their carers, in which participants can socialise while enjoying refreshments and entertainment.
“We want the process of attending the cafe to be as simple and easy as possible. Registrations are required, but you just need to call our National Dementia Helpline [1800 100 500] where a helpline advisor can support you through the quick process. We try to break down barriers,” she said.
Ms Allen has seen participants get a lot from the experience.
“We have volunteers who attend every cafe [session]. We also have a dementia support specialist, available at the cafe, as well as a dementia counsellor. Carers or people living with dementia who are seeking individual dementia-related support can be linked into these services through the cafe,” she said.
“But it’s also an opportunity for people to meet new people, and share their experience, to have that companionship and a safe place for people to come,” she said.
Ms Allen said that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The feedback we received, for example, from one of the attendees, was that the cafe provided them with a place to feel safe with their diagnosis as well as their identity,” said Ms Allen.
Mithra Mahadeva [pictured] is a café participant.
“The difference with this café is we are doing things here in the dementia space where people can be themselves. Not only my illness is acknowledged, but also my identity,” said Mithra.
LGBTQIA+ overlooked in dementia
“The cafe opened in September 2023, to provide members of the LGBTQIA+ community living with dementia, their families, friends, carers and allies, with a safe space to socialise and connect,” said Ms Allen.
“The ‘Why?’ for the cafe is that LGBTQIA+ people living with dementia have often experienced discrimination or have been denied access to inclusive services. This is our attempt to meet their needs. Because having experiences like that leads to feelings of isolation,” she said.
Dr Louisa Smith, whose works has been funded by the Dementia Australia Research Foundation (DARF), has researched the complex care and support needs of LGBTBI+ people living with dementia.
According to Dr Smith, previous research shows that after lifetimes of discrimination, LGBT+ people with dementia often do not have families they can rely on and do not want to use health or aged care services because of bad experiences in the past.
Dr Smith’s project, Rainbow Connections: Co-designing training and engagement resources to help community visitors to make and maintain social connections with LGBT+ people with dementia, will develop resources to support community visitors to make and maintain connections, friendships, and companionship with LGBT+ people living with dementia.
A leading cause of death for Australians
Ms Allen said that dementia is the biggest cause of death for Australian women, and the second highest cause of death for Australians overall.
Provisional data suggests that dementia will soon be the leading cause of death in Australia.
“Dementia is a progressive, fatal brain disease. It’s an umbrella term. Sometimes people ask what the difference is between dementia or Alzheimer’s; Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia, the most common type. There are others, such as frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia; there are over 100 different types,” she said.
According to Dementia Australia, in 2025 there are an estimated 433 300 Australians living with dementia. Without a significant intervention, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase to an estimated 812 500 by 2054.
“The numbers are increasing significantly – there are 1.7 million carers in Australia looking after people with dementia. And given that it’s the most common cause of death for women and the second most common cause for Australians overall, it’s gaining more and more attention. More people are understanding dementia, but there’s always more work to do,” she said.
“People’s knowledge about dementia varies. If they have had personal experience with it, they are very familiar,” said Ms Allen.
Dementia Australia estimates that 2 out of 3 people with dementia are living in the community.
“Small actions can make a big difference, and we encourage everyone to learn about dementia and how they can support people impacted by dementia in their communities,” said Ms Allen.
“We’ve recently launched a video called The Dementia Friendly Home. In it, people can jump in and click on the links to different rooms in the home, and things that you can do to make it more dementia friendly. You can click on, say, the living room or the bathroom for ideas. Cost-effective ideas, as well,” she said.
The 14 dementia disease modifiers
While the cafe provides a safe space for representation and engagement of the LGBTQIA+ community, Dementia Australia is also keen to highlight developments in our understanding of the treatment and prevention of dementia.
“The Lancet commission recently identified 14 modifiable risk factors for dementia,” said Ms Allen.
“There are modifiers that, if addressed effectively, could help to prevent or delay up to 45% pf dementia cases if we address them. The risk factors that we’re referring to vary greatly. Some examples of the risk factors include smoking, high cholesterol, head injury and social isolation.
“While we can’t change getting older, genetics or family history, scientific research shows that looking after our brain health can make a big difference to reducing or delaying the risk of developing dementia,” said Ms Allen.
The 2024 update to the standing Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care added two new risk factors (high LDL cholesterol and vision loss) to the list of risk factors for dementia and indicates that nearly half of all dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors.
The LGBTI+ Memory Lane Cafe, Victorian Pride Centre, is a collaborative initiative between Dementia Australia, Victorian Pride Centre and Lifeview Residential Care. To register, contact the Dementia Australia helpline on 1800 100 500.
Read the updated Lancet Commission: Dementia prevention, intervention, and care 2024 in full online.
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