Alzheimer Cafés may play an important psychosocial supporting role in the life of people li­ving with dementia and of their family caregivers by providing a community of understanding, inclusion, solidarity and mutual support. They can promote policy-, professional- and social dis­courses, the recognition of dementia as a social reality, and overall awareness of this complex challenge. They can also foster transdisciplinary collaboration among professionals as well as between professionals and lay people affected by dementia based on mutual understanding, ca­talysing the formation and operation of acting communities and networks of interest.

The active and purposeful presence and activities of Alzheimer Cafés on Internet platforms, in the increasingly prominent channels and fields of social discourse and community life in the 21st century, can be an important tool in the realization of these benefits.

This two-part paper analyses the publicly accessible online footprint and behaviour of Alzhe­imer Cafés from this perspective as measured by a list of 10 possible functions. It scrutinizes the realisation of possible benefits and advantages offered by Internet platforms between Septem­ber 2019 and August 2020, with a special focus on technology-based adaptive responses to the coronavirus-outbreak midway through that period.

This first part of the paper, which briefly overviews the Alzheimer Café concept and its his­tory in Hungary, and then presents the methodology of the study and the first half of the re­search results. The second part of the paper will continue to present the results, and will make recommendations for making more effective use of the potential of online platforms to realise the goals.