2014 Walk for Memories: meet walker Casey Peters

2014 Walk for Memories: meet walker Casey Peters

It all started with her cookies. My Nonna (grandma in Italian) made the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They were a staple of my childhood. One day, when I was a teenager, the cookies tasted different. It was such a small thing, but I noticed, because they had always tasted the same. When I started working part-time after school, I couldn’t bake with her as often. And the cookies changed even more. She started forgetting small details things, not remembering…

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Questions for your doctor when seeking a diagnosis

Questions for your doctor when seeking a diagnosis

My mother is 82 years of age and she is becoming much more forgetful. She constantly repeats herself and forgets everything that I say. She is also more argumentative lately and when I ask her what is wrong, she gets upset and says she is fine. What can I do? Many families are forced to confront difficult situations like this when their aging parents display signs of dementia.  It’s best to see your doctor for help and a diagnosis. According…

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Early diagnosis keeps your life from unravelling – January is Alzheimer Awareness Month

Early diagnosis keeps your life from unravelling – January is Alzheimer Awareness Month

Did you know that up to 50% of Canadians with dementia are waiting too long to get a diagnosis?

For many people, fear and stigma become huge barriers to seeking help. In fact, a recent Nanos survey found that 60% of the Canadians polled said it would be harder to disclose if they, or someone close to them, had Alzheimer’s disease compared to other diseases.

Walk for Memories: meet Walker Kim Zuliana

Walk for Memories: meet Walker Kim Zuliana

Alzheimer’s affects me both personally and professionally. The Walk For Memories is a great way to gather many who are affected by this disease to help promote awareness, raise funds and to just support each other by sharing stories. Everyone is affected one way or another and with an aging population. This walk allows us to take the next steps to help cure Alzheimer’s disease or related Dementias. I walk for my beautiful Grandmother Cecile Bertuzzi. She has always been…

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Tips caregivers can share at a holiday gathering

Tips caregivers can share at a holiday gathering

The holidays are all about spending time with friends and family.  Including a person with dementia in these events is important because it helps them connect, through familiar faces and objects, to their past.  And create new memories too. Including people with dementia in a social gathering, especially a large one, can be challenging.  The extra stimulation may be difficult to manage. Most people with dementia still enjoy socializing.  Sometimes it is friends and family that may feel uncertain in…

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Walk for Memories profile: meet Wendy and Larry Smith

Walk for Memories profile: meet Wendy and Larry Smith

Meet Wendy and Larry Smith. They have been volunteering for the Alzheimer Society’s Walk for Memories in Ottawa since its inception 19 years ago.  Like the Walk, Wendy and Larry have experienced a number of changes during that period of time. In the beginning, Wendy worked for an Ottawa-based Chartered Accounting firm, Collins Barrow Ottawa LLP, which had encouraged its employees to get involved in the community. The Alzheimer Society was one of a number of organizations that Collins Barrow…

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Quality of life research takes centre stage at the 2013 Canadian Conference on Dementia

Quality of life research takes centre stage at the 2013 Canadian Conference on Dementia

Earlier this October, 480 attendees gathered at the Weston Bayshore Hotel in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia for the 7th Canadian Conference on Dementia. Dynamic speakers from Canada and the US known throughout the world were featured in 11 plenary sessions, 4 groups of 3 parallel sessions and 11 concurrent workshops over the 3 days; as well as 6 new and notable oral presentations from young investigators and 55 poster presentations which graced the upper halls of the hotel. Day 1…

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How to adjust after the move to long-term care

How to adjust after the move to long-term care

Moving some into long-term care is never an easy transition. Care partners feel many emotions when a family member moves into a long-term care home. Some are relieved to share the care while others feel guilty, especially if promises were unkept. “My valiant hopes around looking after him at home forever were dashed, and I watched in fascination and some horror as others stepped in to take over my role as his caregiver,” said Susan Bithrey, wife and care partner…

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Caregiver support for the holidays

Caregiver support for the holidays

“The holidays can be a tough time of year for caregivers. The business of the season, gatherings with friends and family and the fact that many day programs close present challenges. To caregivers, I have some simple advice for you: Plan ahead to help someone with dementia and yourself get the most out of the holidays. Nobody is going to do it for you.” Sharon Rozsel, caregiver for her mother The Alzheimer Society of Ontario knows that for people with…

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