In the realm of dementia care, innovation and compassionate approaches are paramount. One individual leading the charge in this domain is Nicole Smith, a gerontologist, Registered Nurse, and Chief Operating Officer of Community Home Australia. Known for her pioneering work in dementia care, Nicole’s latest endeavour, the grassroots movement Open the Door 2030, is making significant strides on a global scale.
Nicole’s dedication to improving dementia care is evident through her earlier initiative, the Community Café of Health and Wellness. This café offered a unique space for people living with dementia and their carers to discuss innovative care models and best practice methodologies. It provided a supportive environment for sharing insights and fostering a sense of community.
Building on the success of the Community Café, and her work co-founding Community Home Australia, Nicole launched Open the Doors 2030 earlier this year. This human rights movement aims to disseminate dementia care knowledge and global best practices, and reinvisioning care ecosystems.
Remarkably, in just a few months, the movement has attracted nearly 400 members from around the world. Members participate in bi-weekly learning sessions featuring international guests, each bringing unique perspectives on dementia care.
During my conversation with Nicole Smith, she shared the motivation behind Open the Doors 2030 and the transformative impact it aims to achieve.
“What we need is a human rights movement, right?” Nicole stated. “We’ve already danced around the subject for so long with the Royal Commissions and all these new standards coming out. It’s like comparing it to a jail where they’re the wardens, frightening everybody every day. We’ve lost our ability to make changes because we’re fear-based in the aged care industry.”
Nicole’s passion for change led her to conceive Open the Door 2030. She recounted how the idea came about: “I thought, what if I started an online movement called Open the Doors, where knowledge is shared rapidly with others around the world? What do you think? And I pitched it to a couple of people. They said, ‘It’s amazing.’ So, I approached pioneers in this space on LinkedIn from a variety of cultural backgrounds, all with completely different skillsets, and asked if they would be founders of this global movement.”
The essence of Open the Door 2030 is creating a safe space where everyone, from renowned experts like Dr Allen Power to carers in small country town, can be heard and celebrated. Nicole emphasised the importance of rapid knowledge transference, stating, “We present new thought leaders every fortnight through online meetings, providing links and resources to follow their work. We’re creating a website to be launched in August with different tabs, addressing various aspects of person-centred care.”
Nicole’s vision for the movement is inclusive and expansive. “I want everybody to become the solution to this problem,” she explained. “There is a lot of complaining in this space, everyone admits that it’s broken, and our elders are suffering. But no one’s actually linking everyone who has the answers.”
While still in its infancy, #Openthedoors2030 already boasts an array of informative webinars featuring internationally renowned guest speakers on the group’s YouTube channel that are completely free and available for everyone to access.
Some of the information sessions are as follows:
Dan Cohen
Founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memor. Dan’s story was captured in the award-winning documentary Alive Inside which chronicled his fight against the broken US healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those living with dementia.
Wendy Hall
An author and healthcare professional with over 25 years of experience who founded Dementia Doula’s. Wendy provides training and mentorship to aspiring Dementia Doula’s who share the same passion to shift preconceived ideas about existing barriers to dementia care and influence the palliative care space
Judy Cornish
Judy Cornish is an author, founder of the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network® (DAWN), creator of the DAWN Method® of dementia care, and a retired elder law attorney. The DAWN Method strength-based, person-centered approach to dementia care that trains families and caregivers to capitalize on the skills dementia does not take away. A recent study showed that caregivers trained in the DAWN Method® experienced a 34.7% decrease in caregiving burden and a 23.1% increase in positive attitude toward caregiving from pre-course rating to post-course rating.
Susy Singer Carter and Rick Mountcastle
A Los Angeles-based filmmaker and dementia advocate who spent years caring for her mother and witnessing her battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Susie’s experiences as a family carer inspired her most recent project with Rick Mountcastle is called No Country For Old People which is a cautionary tale exposing decades of lethal neglect in nursing facilities as a part of a systematic crisis caused by a care industry that subscribes to the notion that honesty is far less profitable than dishonesty.
Professor David Sheard
David Sheard is Professor of Emotional Intelligence in Care from the School of Science, Technology and Health at York St John University. David Sheard has won multiple international awards for his work on establishing a revolutionary model of dementia care. His person centred ethos has challenged accepted modes of care and brought about positive change around the world.
Dolf Bexc
A Böhm method educator that runs a care farm for people living with dementia, Dolf captivated speakers with rarely heard methods of dementia support that left everyone in awe of their sensible and logical approach. While the Böhm method has yet to be translated to English from its native German origins, Dolf is a pioneer whose innovative approaches to dementia care have the potential to revolutionise global practices.”
One of the most striking aspects of Open the Doors 2030 is its global reach. Nicole shared that members from different time zones, including Europe, USA, Canada, Africa and Malaysia, actively participate in the sessions. “It’s an egoless platform of knowledge transference. It’s about opening doors metaphorically and physically, a call to arms to do better by 2030.”
Despite the ambitious goals, Nicole remains realistic about the challenges ahead. “I know it’s not going to be fixed by 2030, but if we keep saying it’s been like this for decades, it won’t move fast enough. Meanwhile, people are suffering every day around the world.”
The movement also aims to address cultural misconceptions about dementia. “In Africa, they think dementia is witchcraft,” Nicole noted. “In Malaysia, it’s way behind Australia. I’m hoping we’ll have global Open the Door branches in time, empowering leaders in this space to have the courage behind them to keep pushing forward.”
Nicole’s leadership and the dedication of the movement’s founders, all unpaid volunteers, have been crucial to its success. “It’s a labour of love,” she said. “Without the unwavering support of the founders and Dr.Rodney from Community Home Australia, this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Open the Door 2030 is more than a movement; it’s a catalyst for change. “We want to give practical toolkits to transform the culture faster,” Nicole emphasised. “We’re not just complaining about the system; we’re offering solutions.”
As the movement continues to grow, Nicole remains hopeful. “People are getting braver and bolder. It’s about celebrating even the smallest achievements. If a nursing home implements one new system and shares it with us, we celebrate them. It’s one step closer to opening the doors.”
If you want to join the global movement you contact the founders at OTD@communityhomeaustralia.org
Amazing and revolutionary and desperately needed work – Thank you. I will be joining.
Wonderful initiatives. My husband has early Alzheimer’s. We manage very well at the moment and have been doing so for the last 10 years. But of course that won’t last forever and we need to be prepared.
Very inspiring. I have been in aged care for over 20 yrs. So many people don’t understand our residents with dementia. It’s so sad when they don’t educate themselves to make our precious elderly’s lives better. Will be sharing your extraordinary website everywhere. Thankyou so much for your dedication to those who have come before us. Without these beautiful people, we would not be here.