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Category: Living with Dementia

Young onset dementia
Life with young onset dementia: What you need to know

Life with young onset dementia: What you need to know

What comes to mind when you think of a person with dementia? If you’re like most people, you picture an elderly person in the later stages of the disease. But here’s the thing: dementia doesn’t just happen to older people. While age is still the biggest risk factor, people in their 50s, 40s and even 30s can also develop dementia. We call this young onset dementia and it accounts for about 2-8% of all dementia cases. Right now, 16,000 Canadians…

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Meet Margaret
People like Margaret are more than just a number.

People like Margaret are more than just a number.

Did you know that of the 564,000 Canadians with dementia, 60% will go missing or become lost at some point? These men and women are more than just a number. And so are you. You have the power to be the one who makes an impact. By making a donation today, you can help fund dementia research initiatives and support vital programs for people with dementia and their families. With your support, we can help people like Margaret and her…

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Alex and Donna Westman on their wedding day
What’s love got to do with Alzheimer’s? A lot

What’s love got to do with Alzheimer’s? A lot

By Alex Westman My wife Donna and I met when we were just teenagers—she was 18, I was 16. Despite our youth, we understood early on that we had a deep connection. It was an amazing thing, really, and still is. There was magic in her and she saw something in me. I had a reputation as a bit of a scrapper, but she soon took care of that. These days, I’m almost respectable. I’m a three-term municipal councillor in the…

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Hope
Hope in the face of Alzheimer’s

Hope in the face of Alzheimer’s

One might think that having a disease with no cure wouldn’t leave a person with much hope to draw on. The truth is, if you’d asked me how I felt about the future after I was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, my answer would have been far from ‘hopeful.’ Then, one day, that changed.

Chalboard with the word 'patient' crossed out and 'person' written next to it, followed by the word 'suffering' crossed out and 'living' next to it
Why language matters

Why language matters

Jim Mann, a person living with Alzheimer’s, discusses the impact of language on people with dementia, and how words have the power to harm or heal.

Palliative care
Living well…right to the end

Living well…right to the end

May 7 – 13, 2017 is National Hospice Palliative Care Week. Mary Schulz, Director of Education at the Alzheimer Society of Canada discusses some of the misconceptions about palliative care and why it’s important to have conversations about end-of-life.

Will you be that one to make a difference?
You can be that one to make a difference

You can be that one to make a difference

Did you know that over 210,000 people in Ontario are living with dementia? That over 564,000 Canadians are affected by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia today? We all know, or know of, someone affected by this disease. They are our neighbours, our friends, our grandparents and our uncles. They are someone in our life, and they are more than just a number. You can be that one to make a difference in the lives of those affected by dementia. By donating…

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Pauline Tardif
Get to know our new CEO: Pauline Tardif

Get to know our new CEO: Pauline Tardif

Pauline Tardif was appointed the new CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Canada on March 20, 2017. We recently sat down with Pauline to learn more about her background, her goals for the Alzheimer Society, and her life outside of work.

Driving with Dementia

Driving with Dementia

Follow us, as Elizabeth Murray tells the moving story of her mother’s battle with dementia. In this blog series, Murray explores every part of the experience of caring for someone with dementia, sharing her memories and insights from it all. Her words serve as a great reminder of the many ways dementia affects our lives, and the lives of our loved ones.” Driving had always been an important part of my mother’s life. She loved to tell stories about her…

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Phyllis looking in the mirror
The mirror of dementia

The mirror of dementia

I look in the mirror and what do I see? I see me. That is me…the same ‘me’ I’ve always seen when I look in the mirror. But wait – is it really the same ‘me’? Is this what others see? I look like me – or the ‘me’ I was. You see, I have changed – not on the outside, not in who I am, not in what I believe; I haven’t changed in how I see the world….

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