As I drove us to the 9:00 a.m. meeting with Dr. Didyk a geriatrician, many thoughts ran through my head. Here we go, another appointment with another doctor. One more stupid test. I hate when they ask me to write down the clock time because I know what time it is. I’m looking forward to my Timmy’s coffee. Once Dawn and I arrived at the hospital, we grabbed a coffee and headed off to the waiting room of the gerontology…
The new office computer system shouldn’t have been a problem for Diane. She had been training new employees on how to use the company’s software for 20 years. But now she was having problems offering price quotes and making calculations over the phone. What’s more, Diane noticed that she was having some trouble remembering things at home. When her husband finally convinced her to go to doctor about her memory issues, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She kept working…
On October 1st, 2014, business leaders, philanthropists and supporters of the Alzheimer Society gathered at The Four Seasons to raise funds for Canadians living with dementia. The evening was filled with emotional speeches, touching dedications and a lively auction. Words cannot describe the inspiration and hope that surrounded all who were in attendance. Thank you to everyone who supported the event and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year. Below are photos from the evening:
As my father-in-law aged, and when he developed dementia, my husband became his primary caregiver and power of attorney. I’m a lawyer who has devoted a significant part of her career to research and public policy work on issues related to disability, aging and caregiving. There’s no doubt that my professional background was useful as my family tried to understand what everyone’s rights and responsibilities were at each step of the way, find the necessary services and resources, be good…
“Mom is on the ipod program and I can’t thank you enough. When she is agitated, I turn her iPod and she starts dancing and humming away.” -Daughter of woman with dementia Have you met someone who didn’t like music? I haven’t. A love of music is hardwired into the human psyche. People with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias are no different. Two years ago at our offices in Toronto, I watched Dan Cohen, founder of Music and Memory in…
On July 4 to July 27, 2014 we celebrated our 10th anniversary of our Society for the Arts in Dementia Care at the Ferry Building Gallery in West Vancouver, BC, with the kind support from the Alzheimer’s Society Research Program and the West Vancouver Community Foundation. For 3 weeks we exhibited highlights of the Society’s permanent art collection, which was established with the help of the Alzheimer Society of Canada several years ago. The idea for the Society originated in…
Over the weekend of September 12-14, computer programmers, Alzheimer mentors and others took part in DementiaHack. Their mission? To create application for smartphones, tablet or computers to aid the community or self management of people with dementia. On Sunday, the teams presented their proposal to judges for a grand prize of getting to travel across Canada and the UK, speaking with investors and other experts to bring the product to market. All the great ideas presented that day blew me…
September is a time when you may be considering which charities to support through your workplace giving program for the upcoming year. HealthPartners is a unique collaboration of 16 of Canada’s best known national health charities and the Alzheimer Society of Canada is proud to be a part of it! 87% of Canadians are expected to be affected by a chronic disease or major illness in their lifetime. Through HealthPartners you can make an investment in life-saving medical research and…
I was able to help care for my father-in-law in the last year and a half of his life and I have to say it was a real eye-opener. He had dementia – probably related to a stroke. But here was someone who had been very, very sharp and very independent who increasingly needed more of our help in terms of meals, housework and making sure he took his medications correctly. We were very blessed in the sense that we…
I’ve loved robots for as long as I can remember. When I watched Star Wars as a kid, I didn’t want to be Luke Skywalker or Han Solo – I wanted to be the guy who built R2-D2. So I am thrilled that today that what was once science fiction is becoming reality. Google is building cars that can drive themselves, and the best chess and Jeopardy! players in the world are computers from IBM. I’m especially enthusiastic about the…