A number of our members have had direct involvement with customers who experience dementia symptoms, as well as experiencing this condition with family members or friends. Part of providing a welcoming environment is having an understanding of how to create the best possible experience for all customers.

Dementia is a declining neurological disease that no one chooses to get. It is an equal opportunity illness that could take hold in any of us. People who have lived full and interesting lives, working, raising families, driving, going out to entertainment and eating in restaurants and cafes develop dementia. Dementia is not just the very elderly, sitting in wheelchairs in care facilities.

Whilst over time people may have to give up many of their usual activities, one of the most enduring pleasures people living with dementia and their spouses/whanau retain is going out for coffee and a muffin, or out for lunch at their favourite local café. We asked Dementia New Zealand for their input and help and this article provides some very useful information on dementia and suggestions on how to be a “Dementia Friendly Business”.

In 2021 it is estimated that 70,000 people in New Zealand are living with a diagnosis of dementia.

This is expected to rise to 170,000 in 2050 as the overall population lives longer. The average journey through dementia is 8-10 years, most of which are spent living in one’s own home, going about the community, interacting with others and living life as best one can. Indeed, dementia isn’t always ‘grey haired and old’, 7% of all dementia diagnoses are made for people under the age of 65 years, some as young as 45.

Dementia is not just about memory loss – dementia can affect judgment, reasoning, communication and language, ability to attend and concentrate, organisational skills, ability to calculate, abstract thinking, decision making, ability to filter emotions and behaviours along with auditory, visual and tactile perceptions.

According to Dementia New Zealand, what people living with dementia and their carers need to have are dementia friendly environments where they feel welcome, rather than excluded. Stigma and fear can lead to many people not wanting to know about how dementia affects people’s lives; some would rather not have to make the extra effort to be tolerant and inclusive – unless it happens to be their parent or grandparent.

If a person or business makes an effort to become ‘Dementia Friendly’ then another outcome that Dementia New Zealand sees is that they may adopt a kinder, more tolerant stance which not only enriches them as people and as a business but has a ripple effect outward to other people with special needs – living with physical or neurological illnesses and disabilities.

‘Dementia Friendly’ businesses become more tolerant to people with autism, head injuries, learning and intellectual disabilities. The consequences of being more tolerant and accepting of people with a difference is that carers and families will continue to frequent these businesses and establish connection and loyalty with that business.

There are six dementia Affiliates across New Zealand providing a range of important community-based services to people living with dementia, their whanau, friends and carers. An important part of the services provided includes walking groups that are often part of a Living Well with Dementia programme. Typically, these are casual monthly meet-ups where people with dementia and their supporters can catch up for a coffee and a chat. The cafes are chosen to participate in the programme because of being easy to access, not too noisy and importantly because the staff know and understand about dementia so the ‘Dementia New Zealand’ clients (the café’s customers) feel safe and welcome. Groups also take regular time out for lunch in a local venue and many carers meet each other in cafes for Support Groups – both formal and informal sessions. When families see and interact with ‘Dementia Friendly’ staff in cafes they will always return to frequent and support that business.

In some cases carers carry a Companion Card or similar identifier to explain to serving staff that the person with them has dementia and asking for patience, tolerance and a smile if things are not going smoothly. As a business owner, you may wish to discuss this with your staff to make sure that they are aware of how best to interact with customers with dementia and provide the best, most welcoming environment for all customers. You may wish to adopt the following list of suggestions and discuss this with your staff.

So how do you become a ‘Dementia Friendly’ business?

• Treating everybody with respect, no matter how they present or behave.
• Take time and be patient, don’t rush someone who is struggling to be decisive about what they want to order.
• Allow time for people to get their cash right or to use the eftpos machine unpressured.
• Always speak to the person with dementia as an adult.
• Pay attention to your body language, speak clearly and slowly, use shorter less complex sentences, don’t overwhelm with too many choices.
• Don’t automatically turn to the carer or person with them, take the time to interact with the person with dementia, giving them time to process what you are asking and time to reply.
• Providing spaces in the café that are quiet and away from the hubbub of the coffee machine and the counter.
• Make the environment ‘Dementia Friendly”- good lighting, clutter free, minimise obstacles, reduce excessive noise with sound absorbing materials, avoid highly reflective surfaces, make signage to the toilets clear and obvious.
• Take the person’s name alongside their order to lessen the embarrassment of not remembering what they ordered 10 to 20 minutes ago – eg – “Short Black with a muffin for John and a Soy Latte for Carol”.
• Have easy to read menus and blackboards that do not overwhelm.

Remember a ‘Dementia Friendly’ business is a People Friendly Business