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13 November 2025
Stories
| Home Care
It was October 2024, and a last-minute cancellation meant the couple could attend our Noonaweena retreat on the NSW Central Coast almost straight away.
It was still early in Cathy’s caring journey and she had been feeling very alone. Although she had completed online dementia education and tried support groups, it had been a long process and she hadn’t met anyone in a similar situation. “We were in the early years, and most other carers were much further down the track. I was really struggling.”
But from the moment they arrived at the Refresh Retreat, both Cathy and Peter felt supported and welcomed, not just by the BaptistCare at home team, but by others walking a similar path. Cathy describes the relief she felt, realising that the challenges she and Peter were facing were not unusual for people living with dementia and their partners.
“In the couples we met, it was the men who were living with dementia and the women who were the carers, just like us,” she says. “Hearing that the things happening for us were typical for people on this journey was really important. It made me feel not so alone, and that was so good.”
She also found the information sessions, delivered in small groups, very useful.
“One of the biggest things was being encouraged to widen our circle of support and to get help early.” The message was that getting help early means support could be incorporated into everyday life as soon as possible, so that it’s not as confronting for people living with dementia.
For Cathy and Peter, that advice helped change everything. Before the Refresh Retreat, Peter didn’t want to talk about his diagnosis and didn’t want to seek support outside the family. “I felt guilty even asking for help,” Cathy says.
But at the Refresh Retreat, he found connection and confidence. He and the other men formed a friendship group, enjoying drives, coffee and barbecues while their partners attended learning sessions. He made friends. He laughed. He relaxed. One of the most meaningful outcomes was that he became firm friends with someone else in the group. That friendship helped make new environments feel like fun again.
Cathy says the fact that carers and their loved ones shared moments together throughout each day also helped, because it meant no one felt separated from their partner. “We had breakfast together, then we’d go to our information sessions and the men would do their activities, and we’d meet again for lunch and dinner.”
On their return home, Cathy was pleasantly surprised to hear Peter speaking more freely and openly about living with dementia. “He was telling everyone, ‘I went away on a holiday to this place for people with dementia and it was the best thing’.”
The experience helped pave the way for another very important change. Peter became more willing to accept support and do things independently of Cathy, something that felt almost impossible before the retreat. “He couldn’t be without me before,” Cathy explained. “The only time I had to myself was walking the dog in the morning.”
He agreed to having a care worker and now looks forward to going out with her regularly. “He goes to the window for half an hour before she gets here,” Cathy says. “It’s opened his eyes to what is available. He’s more comfortable with it all now.”
Importantly, he is also more comfortable about respite care. “There’s no way he would have even looked at respite before. Now he sees it as a positive experience.”
For Cathy, seeing Peter rediscover confidence and connection has been deeply encouraging. “We now take every opportunity for him to get out and about, engage and experience things. His world is bigger again, and so is mine.”
The relationships formed at the retreat have also continued. Cathy and the other carers created a private Facebook group to stay in touch. “We can say whatever we need to say and be completely honest because we know there’s no judgment.”
And Peter is still mates with the friend he made at the Refresh Retreat and often reflects fondly on the experience. “He still says it was the best thing,” Cathy says. “He often asks, ‘Do you think we could go on another one?’ He loved it so much.”
Looking back, Cathy can clearly see how the retreat has helped shape a more confident and supported future for both of them. Widening their circle has given them space to breathe and to enjoy life again, both together and independently.
“Effectively, all of this has come from the Refresh Retreat,” she says. “He’s more open, less anxious about being apart, and happy to try new things. It really changed everything.”
For couples like Cathy and Peter, this change means hope, confidence and renewed possibilities. “The retreat was just so good. It was life-changing.”
If you’d like to learn more about BaptistCare at home Refresh Retreats and how they support carers and their loved ones living with dementia, we’d love to talk with you. Refresh Retreats run in NSW, the ACT and WA and offer a safe and uplifting space to rest, learn, connect and rediscover joy together
