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Tag: living with dementia

Dementia Hack 2017
DementiaHack 2017: Making a difference with technology

DementiaHack 2017: Making a difference with technology

On March 4th, the doors opened bright and early at MaRs Discovery District for DementiaHack 2017. Throughout the morning, registrants trickled in, setting up their computers and discussing their plans for the upcoming 36 hour-long event. An annual event hosted by Hackernest, Dementia Hack is a competition to create innovative technology to help people with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other neuro-degenerative diseases. With over 300 developers gathered together to compete, the room was buzzing with eager participants, discussing and preparing…

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Finding Your Way through the winter season: tips for staying safe with dementia

Finding Your Way through the winter season: tips for staying safe with dementia

Winter is on its way, bringing with it snow, sleigh bells, and a renewed importance around being safe in our homes and communities. To prepare, we’re putting snow tires on our cars, pulling winter boots out of storage, and stocking up on salt for our sidewalks and driveways – but for people with dementia, those safety steps go a bit further. If you’re living with dementia or helping to care for someone with dementia, here are some important factors to…

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Changing the way dementia research is done in Canada
Changing the way dementia research is done in Canada

Changing the way dementia research is done in Canada

Research is usually researcher-driven. We want to help change that. What do we mean? Researchers usually decide what work is important enough to be funded and then good enough to be published. But are researchers aware of the issues that matter most to those who can actually benefit from their work? Not always. That’s why we’ve created the Canadian Dementia Priority Setting Partnership, a study that will bring the voices of Canadians affected by dementia into the conversation about research.

People with dementia speak to Senate Standing Committee

People with dementia speak to Senate Standing Committee

In February 2016, the Canadian Senate asked that the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology study the issue of dementia in our society and to provide a final report in January 2017. On May 18, Mary Beth Wighton and the other members of the Ontario Dementia Advisory Group (ODAG) presented to the committee. View the presentation on SenVu or read her remarks:       Good afternoon, Thank you for inviting us to appear before you this afternoon.  It’s…

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Cornwall Police are Dementia Friends
Cornwall community stepping up to become Dementia Friends

Cornwall community stepping up to become Dementia Friends

One of our core objectives here at the Alzheimer Society of Cornwall and District is to continue to look for new ways to make life better for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.  One way we are looking to bring people closer together is through the Dementia Friends campaign.  As many of you already know, a Dementia Friend is someone who learns a little bit more about what it’s like to live with dementia and then turns that understanding…

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This election, support a National Dementia Strategy

This election, support a National Dementia Strategy

On October 19, 2015 the Canadian federal election will be held. And we want to reaffirm that every vote matters. On May 6 of this year, our chance for a national dementia strategy becoming enshrined into Canadian law through MP Claude Gravelle’s private member’s bill C-356 was sadly defeated 140-139. Yes, by one vote. When we hear about people who think votes don’t matter it’s disheartening, because regardless of context, every vote matters. Right now, each one of us gets…

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Introducing the 2015 Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP) Community Representatives / Des représentants de la collectivité participent au Programme de recherche de la Société Alzheimer (PRSA)

Introducing the 2015 Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP) Community Representatives / Des représentants de la collectivité participent au Programme de recherche de la Société Alzheimer (PRSA)

This year the Alzheimer Society celebrates 27 years of funding research through the Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP). The peer review panel meetings were held in February 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, and included the role of Community Representatives. Community Representatives are members of the general public who are not currently involved with research who are given the opportunity to comment on the intent, purpose and on the clarity of the language used within the lay summaries of research applications that…

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Nightmares or the Orange Pill

Nightmares or the Orange Pill

I’m tired this morning. The lingering affects of my nightmares stays with me. One of the characteristics of Frontotemporal dementia is sleep disturbances. In addition to this I have been diagnosed with REM sleep behavioural disorder. This “… is a disorder in which you physically act out vivid, often unpleasant dreams with vocal sounds and sudden, often violent arm and leg movements during REM sleep.” Normally you don’t move during REM sleep. About 20 % of your sleep is spent…

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1 million Dementia Friends wanted. Are you in?

1 million Dementia Friends wanted. Are you in?

Dementia Friends Canada is an Alzheimer Society and Government of Canada initiative to help Canadians better understand what it’s like to live with dementia and how they can help those with the disease remain active and carry on with their daily lives.

Cracked: New Light on Dementia combines research, dementia and the arts

Cracked: New Light on Dementia combines research, dementia and the arts

In the spring and fall of 2013, I worked with a team of artists and researchers on the play Cracked: New Light on Dementia. I was brought onto the project because of my theatre background and because of my personal and professional experience working with people who have dementia. The play is intended to inspire alternative ways of seeing people living with dementia, instill the importance of maintaining strong relationships with them, and reinforce the imperative for good ethical care….

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