While Memory Cafés have long served as vital hubs of connection and support, new models — like Dementia Friendly Washoe County’s Open Door Café — are expanding the vision of what inclusion can look like in community life.
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As mild cognitive impairment and dementia become more common, so too do the social and emotional challenges they present. People living with dementia and their care partners often face isolation and stigma, finding themselves excluded from spaces not designed with their needs in mind.
That’s why dementia-inclusive spaces are more important than ever. While Memory Cafés have long served as vital hubs of connection and support, new models — like Dementia Friendly Washoe County’s Open Door Café — are expanding the vision of what inclusion can look like in community life.
Originally developed in the Netherlands in 1997 by psychiatrist Bere Miesen, Memory Cafés were designed to create a welcoming, judgment-free environment specifically for people living with dementia and their care partners.
These gatherings, now found across the globe, offer a chance to engage in meaningful activities, find support, and enjoy social connection with others who understand the experience of living with dementia or care partnership.
The focus often isn’t on dementia itself; it’s on fostering joy, normalcy, and community through things like music, art, storytelling, or a simple cup of coffee. For care partners, these spaces offer a vital sense of solidarity and support.
That same spirit of connection is at the heart of the Open Door Café: Dementia Friendly Washoe County’s bold evolution of the Memory Café model. The Open Door Café builds on the ethos of Memory Cafés but takes a broader approach.
Marc LemonWhile Memory Cafés are intended for a specific audience (people living with dementia and their care partners), the Open Door Café is a public event designed to be dementia-inclusive, welcoming people of all ages and cognitive abilities.
It is not a support group; it is a community-building gathering that removes the walls of separation between “us” and “them.”
The Open Door Café might look to the casual passerby like a community coffeehouse event or an intergenerational gathering with music and conversation.
What defines the Café is not who is there, but how the space is shaped. It is intentionally designed to be comfortable and inclusive for people living with dementia, while inviting everyone in the community to participate.
The Open Door Café models a world where people living with dementia are not separated or set apart. Rather, they’re part of the mix, included and engaged just like anyone else. The result is more than just social connection: it’s a small but powerful act of cultural transformation.
The Open Door Café offers tremendous benefits to participants. Research shows that meaningful engagement helps reduce anxiety, improve mood, and slow cognitive decline for people living with dementia.
For care partners, these spaces offer moments of joy and networks of support. And for the broader community? They challenge the stigma and stereotypes that often surround dementia.
Casey Venturini They help people learn how to be more supportive neighbors, friends, and co-workers. They teach us that dementia does not define a person, and that an inclusive community is a strong community.
As dementia becomes more prevalent, communities must rise to meet the moment by embracing inclusion and creativity. That means expanding access to public-facing, dementia-inclusive events like the Open Door Café.
It means designing community life not just for people living with dementia, but with them. The good news? This work is already happening across our state. To find a traditional Memory Café near you, visit Dementia Friendly America’s directory: https://dfamerica.org/memory-cafe-directory.
For opportunities to get involved in dementia-friendly and inclusive efforts across Nevada, including the Open Door Café, visit https://DFNV.org. Let’s open our doors, our minds, and our hearts to create a world where everyone belongs.
Marc Lemon is the BOLD coordinator for the UNR DEER Program and a member of the Dementia Friendly Nevada Support Team. Casey Venturini is the assistant director of the Dementia Engagement, Education, and Research Program in the School of Public Health at UNR and serves as director of the statewide Dementia Friendly Nevada initiative.