Improve the quality of life of people living with dementia and caregivers.
There are many aspects to improving
quality of life for people living with dementia and caregivers. Aspirations for
this objective include eliminating stigma; timely and compassionate diagnosis that
comes with access to supports; care that is tailored to the needs of everyone;
care providers that are well-trained and have access to the resources they need
to provide quality care, and resources for caregivers to help protect their own
wellbeing and to provide them with supports that will assist their efforts to
care for those living with dementia.
Initiatives that support this broad
objective touch on areas such as access to diagnostic tools and quality health
care provided by a skilled and knowledgeable workforce, community-based services
and supports, actions to reduce stigma, and work to share and scale up efforts to
make communities more dementia-inclusive. These are activities that make a significant
difference every day in the lives of people living with dementia and caregivers.
Whether it is improving the experiences in the health care system of people living
with dementia, supporting life at home, or making it easier to stay engaged, active
and express preferences, these initiatives support living in a way that creates
quality of life.
The 2020 public opinion survey
found that about one-fifth of respondents did not know enough to share their
views when it comes to access to health care and the quality of health care in their
communities, perhaps due to a lack of experience. Most respondents (70%) rated access
to care for people living with dementia as moderate to excellent in their communities,
with 66% rating the quality of that care from moderate to excellent. There are
countless other efforts being made across Canada to improve the quality of life
of people living with dementia and caregivers by a wide cross-section of organizations.
Efforts Across Canada
Staying active and engaged and
supporting inclusion.
• The Dementia-Inclusive Choices for Exercise initiative aims to increase accessible
exercise opportunities by developing dementia-specific evidence-based tools and
training for exercise providers (pilots in Kitchener-Waterloo, Halifax and northern
British Columbia).
• Voices
in Motion and NoteWorthy
Singers are intergenerational
choirs for people living with dementia, caregivers, friends and students in Victoria
and Vancouver, helping to create a more dementia-inclusive community.
• Research is using the lenses of
shared decision-making, feminist care ethics and social citizenship to look at how
people living with dementia could become more active collaborators in shaping
End-Of-Life Decision-Making (University
of British Columbia).
• The Volunteer Companion Program in Prince Edward Island is a one-on-one
home visiting program for people living with dementia and their caregivers who
are at risk of social isolation.
• Cracked: new light on dementia is research-informed theatre production and film seen across and outside Canada
that is focused on the challenges of stigma; work is underway to develop an interactive
web-based learning platform.
• The Supporting Inclusion through Intergenerational Partnerships Collective Impact initiative promotes the social
inclusion of seniors with mild to moderate dementia and caregivers by creating opportunities
to engage with youth (Waterloo, Ontario).
The Alzheimer
Society of Canada’s nationwide anti-stigma campaign, “Yes. I live with dementia.
Let me help you understand”. highlights the diverse lived experience of Canadians
living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia to address misconceptions
and reduce stigma.
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