Dementia Strategic Fund: Government of Canada supports projects to raise awareness, improve guidance, and enhance provincial/territorial online dementia resources in Canada

Backgrounder

January 2024

The Government of Canada is providing $9.6 million in funding through the Dementia Strategic Fund to launch 23 projects across the country that will improve access to high-quality guidance, raise awareness about dementia, and enhance provincial/territorial online dementia resources. Guidance projects are focusing on prevention, person-centred care, and Indigenous populations. Awareness raising projects are focusing on reducing risk and stigma and encouraging dementia-inclusive communities. Provincial/territorial projects will focus on the enhancement of evidence-based online dementia resources for Canadians on provincial and territorial governmental websites, including updating and/or expanding online dementia-related content, and making online dementia-related content more accessible.

The Government of Canada is committed to improving the quality of life of people living with dementia and caregivers, and to increasing awareness and promoting healthy behaviours to reduce the risk of dementia.

The Dementia Strategic Fund (DSF) supports a variety of activities, including:

  • A national public education campaign
  • Projects to improve access to high-quality dementia guidance
  • Awareness raising projects
  • Projects to enhance online dementia resources

Below is a summary of the 23 new DSF projects receiving funding:

Dementia Strategic Fund – Guidance

Project Title: Best Practice Directions in Indigenous-Centred Dementia Care
Recipient: The Governors of the University of Calgary
Funding: $281,855
Project Details: This project aims to address gaps in dementia guidance by defining best practices in Indigenous-centered dementia care. Guidance outputs from this project will be targeted towards the broader community of dementia care providers in clinical, social, community, and public health environments. This project aims to improve the quality of care provided to Indigenous patients (ensuring it is culturally appropriate and culturally safe) and improve access and reduce barriers and adverse experiences within the health care setting.

Project Title: Canadian Best Practice Guidance for Quality Community Supports and Care for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia and Their Caregivers
Recipient: REENA
Funding: $406,245
Project Details: This project uses a Canadian perspective to focus on updating and adapting guidance to support people living with dementia who also have intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). Activities center on an existing set of published guidelines produced by the National Task Group (NTG-US) on Intellectual disabilities and Dementia Practices. Surveys, focus groups, a literature review, a roundtable and discussions with an Advisory Committee will inform the development of a new guidance document and adjunct resources (videos, booklets and FAQs). The adapted guidance materials for adults with IDD, families and staff caregivers will be posted on various websites including those associated with the project leads, Reena and the NTG Canada Consortium, and incorporated into the NTG Canada dementia training curriculum. These materials will also be disseminated a variety of ways for different audiences. The project intends to provide adults with IDD, their families and community disability, health care and senior-serving organizations/services with information to offer and enhance quality dementia-capable services and supports.

Project Title: Best Practice Resource Hub on the Identification, Assessment and Management of Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia for Health Care Providers and People Living with Dementia
Recipient: Canadian Coalition for Senior’s Mental Health through the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry
Funding: $399,999
Project Details: This project will lead to the creation of a best practice resource website for the identification, assessment, and management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). The website will be curated and presented in an accessible, inclusive and user-friendly format to support people living with dementia, care partners, clinicians and the public to find evidence informed resources and to better understand and manage BPSD. The Behaviours in Dementia Toolkit will be available starting February 7, 2024 at www.behavioursindementia.ca.

Project Title: Creation of National Dementia Guidelines and Best Practices for Person-Centred Communication and Care: A Culture-First Approach
Recipient: Alzheimer Society of Canada
Funding: $514,993
Project Details: This project will develop evidence-based dementia guidelines and practical tools that will support family physicians, and other disclosing health care providers, communicate a diagnosis of dementia. All project outputs have an emphasis on and are co-developed with Black and Chinese Canadians to ensure the creation of equitable and culturally competent resources and recommendations.

Project Title: Cultural Adaptation of MINT Memory Clinics: Improving Equitable Access to High-Quality Dementia Guidance for Older Canadians
Recipient: Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team
Funding: $831,810
Project Details: This project will improve access to and use of person-centered dementia guidance in primary care, with a focus on people living with dementia and dementia caregivers who face ethnic and cultural barriers to equitable dementia care. The project intends to adapt training and resources to meet the needs of several diverse populations in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan. Target populations will include South Asian, Indigenous and/or northern, and francophone communities.

Project Title: Dementia Guidelines for Regional and Indigenous Populations in Northern British Columbia: Consultation, Calibration, and Creation of Community and College Curricula
Recipient: College of New Caledonia
Funding: $336,605
Project Details: The goal of this project is to meaningfully engage with the communities of northern British Columbia to gain an understanding of their needs and concerns relative to dementia, and to develop culturally appropriate and culturally safe college and community materials on psychosocial interventions for dissemination as open education resources. This project will also produce tailored guidance on community-centred communication on dementia diagnosis and prevention, as well as regarding individual and family involvement in decisions related to care.

Project Title: Emotion-Based Dementia Care Training for First Responders
Recipient: Regional Municipality of Peel
Funding: $267,945
Project Details: This project will focus on developing a comprehensive education program for first responders to support people living with dementia. It will include baseline education on dementia including progression, emotion-based care interventions, and practical skills and strategies to support people living with dementia and their families/caregivers when they are in distress. The project will aim to equip first responders in Peel Region with the skills to minimize emotional expressions and de-escalate situations.

Project Title: Improve and Expand Access to High-Quality Guidance through Personalized Pathways and Multimedia Content in the Luci Digital Program Designed to Prevent Dementia in At-Risk Individuals (Luci-2)
Recipient: LUCILAB INC.
Funding: $400,000
Project Details: This project will expand the Luci Initiative, a personalized program for promoting a healthy lifestyle to reduce the risks of dementia in the form of a digital app. The content library will be enriched based on dementia prevention guidelines and will provide advice in a number of formats (animation, audio, video, quizzes, etc.). In addition, a more flexible self-service path will be created, expanding from the currently available coaching from a healthy lifestyle advisor. Through this self-service path, participants will have independent access to the different tools and resources of the program based on their preferences, with optional advisor coaching. This will help to improve knowledge on dementia and dementia risk factors.

Project Title: IncludeMeTM – A Starting Point for Dementia Caregivers
Recipient: Iris the Dragon
Funding: $515,267
Project Details: IncludeMeTM – A Starting Point for Dementia Caregivers will develop an interactive online educational experience that will equip Canadians with caregiver responsibilities for someone living with dementia. The program will be free, bilingual, and accessible anytime. It will build a better understanding about the behaviours of those living with dementia and how to best support them from a person-centred care perspective, while reducing stigma and fostering communities to become more dementia-inclusive.

Project Title: Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services Indigenous-Led Collaborative Community-Based Memory Clinics
Recipient: Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services
Funding: $478,610
Project Details: The project will enable the development and delivery of Indigenous community-based memory clinics and supporting programs within the Maamwesying North Shore Tribal Council member First Nation communities in northern Ontario. Maamwesying, along with the North East Specialized Geriatric Centre, the Alzheimer Society (Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District), Superior Family Health Team, and Dr. Jennifer Walker have created a collaborative partnership. Partners will guide design, ensure sound community engagement and leadership, and identify and include community Elders and cultural knowledge holders. This approach will ensure a community-driven, cultural strengths-based approach. These memory clinics will focus on complete care and support for Indigenous persons living with dementia and caregivers. The clinics will provide culturally appropriate and safe assessments, supports and resources to support continued aging in place (living at home), and to engage people living with dementia and caregivers in a wholistic lifestyle that includes cultural and traditional programming based on local teachings from community Elders.

Project Title: Online Dementia Guidance Resource Hub for Chinese Communities in Canada
Recipient: Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care
Funding: $400,000
Project Details: This project aims at improving access to and implementation of high-quality dementia guidance for individuals using Chinese (Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Mandarin and Cantonese) and communities across Canada who encounter language barriers. The project will develop a user-friendly Online Dementia Guidance Resource Hub to provide individuals using Chinese with a one-stop source of credible, evidence-based dementia information in English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. The content may include articles, e-books, videos, posters, presentations, links to resources on other websites, and online courses about dementia. Educational workshops will also be provided in Cantonese and Mandarin to demonstrate how to navigate the online resource hub.

Dementia Strategic Fund – Awareness Raising Initiatives

Project Title: Addressing Dementia Stigma (ADS) and Inclusiveness in Small Rural Communities
Recipient: The Corporation of the City of Vernon
Funding: $184,710
Project Details: This project will raise community awareness and skill levels to reduce dementia-related stigma and promote inclusion through an innovative, community-centred social marketing campaign in the city of Vernon, British Columbia. The project will also encourage dementia inclusiveness through the preparation of a Dementia Friendly Community Plan. This plan will make recommendations for wayfinding, safety corridors, emergency preparedness, sidewalk enhancements, park enhancements, and social marketing to make the community as dementia inclusive as possible. The project will develop a Canadian dementia awareness-raising approach that is tailored to the diversity and needs of Canadians living with dementia in smaller communities with a rural component.

Project Title: Addressing Stigma and Supporting Living Well for Persons Living with Dementia and Care Partners: The Forward with Dementia Initiative
Recipient: Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging Foundation
Funding: $435,492
Project Details: The Forward with Dementia initiative is expanding across Canada by adapting resources, developing website content, and designing and implementing campaign strategies to address stigma within diverse cultural and linguistic groups, specifically Chinese, South Asian, and Italian communities.

Project Title: Apna Mind, Apna Body - Dementia Awareness in South Asians
Recipient: Indus Community Services
Funding: $398,933
Project Details: This project will develop a culturally appropriate campaign on dementia and brain health. The goal is to raise awareness within the South Asian community in the Peel Region and Greater Toronto Area to reduce dementia-related stigma and encourage the community to be more dementia-inclusive. Through the organization’s multilingual ambassadors, website, and media outreach, the awareness campaign will address stigma and myths surrounding dementia, while providing evidence-based education and information. This project intends to foster dementia inclusivity through educating South Asian communities using culturally sensitive resources.

Project Title: Curating, Designing, and Disseminating Co-Designed Knowledge Products to Raise Awareness About Prevention
Recipient: Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Funding: $712,519
Project Details: This project builds on Baycrest Academy for Research and Education’s (BARE) research and education expertise and Canadian science journalist Jay Ingram’s expertise in science communication to develop a podcast (co-hosted by Mr. Ingram and BARE President and Chief Scientist Allison Sekuler), short videos, infographics, and a website addressing dementia prevention and stigma reduction. These English and French products target a diverse audience across Canada and build awareness and understanding of the relationship between modifiable risk factors and dementia, to inspire more inclusive attitudes and beliefs about people living with dementia and aging in general, and helping Canadians decrease their dementia risk. Older adults and caregiver communities are being engaged through the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation’s Leap community to help set priorities on key content areas and modes of delivery, and to inform subsequent phases for different dementia prevention themes. The podcast and all other knowledge products can be found at www.defydementia.org.

Project Title: Dementia Supporter (Volunteer) Training and Making Support Network Titled Team Orange in Each Japanese/Japanese Canadian Community
Recipient: Japanese Medical Support Network in Canada
Funding: $315,445
Project Details: This project will expand a dementia supporter (volunteer) training method developed in Japan by the National Caravan-mate Liaison Council to partner organization members of the National Association of Japanese Canadians. Expanding the successful “Caravan Mates” Japanese campaign to the Canadian context will enable and support dementia-inclusive Japanese communities across Canada, increase awareness of dementia risk factors and reduce dementia-related stigma including through intergenerational activities.

Project Title: Improving and Expanding the Luci Program to Reach a More Diverse Population (Luci-3)
Recipient: LUCILAB INC.
Funding: $816,982
Project Details: This project aims to expand the scope of the Luci program to reach a more diverse population over a larger area across Canada. Luci is a personalized intervention program accessible through an online application, with guidance available from a counsellor to support the adoption of a healthy lifestyle by individuals at risk of developing dementia. The project is focused on improving awareness of modifiable dementia risk and protective factors, and supporting individuals in adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in three areas: diet, physical activity, and intellectual stimulation.

Project Title: Please Be Patient: I’m Still Me
Recipient: Brella Community Services Society
Funding: $410,374
Project Details: The I’m Still Me project will deliver in-person events in community centres in British Columbia as well as virtual events, creating opportunities to learn more about dementia and interact with those living with the condition. These events will reduce dementia-related stigma and encourage dementia-inclusive communities through viewing relevant films, interactive educational presentations, networking opportunities and group discussions. Participants attending these events are expected to develop self-awareness, compassion and open-mindedness towards the diagnosis of dementia and people living with dementia.

Project Title: Promoting Dementia Awareness in Intergenerational Programming in Canada
Recipient: Families Canada
Funding: $375,832
Project Details: This project will develop a nationwide campaign and disseminate multimedia materials to increase awareness and understanding of dementia, reduce dementia-related stigma and promote dementia inclusion in intergenerational programs across Canada. The project will reach family support workers who serve seniors in family support centres, long term care providers, childcare providers, and those who offer intergenerational interventions, programs, and activities. The awareness campaign will help service providers better understand dementia, apply these learnings to their own programs and services, reduce stigma, and include persons living with dementia in their programs in safe and compassionate ways.

Project Title: Strengthening Chosen Family – Dementia Awareness and Inclusivity in the LGBTQI2S Community
Recipient: Egale Canada
Funding: $710,093
Project Details: Help Us Remain is a national bilingual awareness campaign by Egale Canada which aims to promote the acceptance and understanding of people living with dementia in two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse people (2SLGBTQI+) communities and strengthen supports for chosen families as primary carers. Following Egale’s research report, Coming Out and Coming In to Living with Dementia, this campaign will shine a light on the role that 2SLGBTQI+ community members play in caring for one another while also strengthening supports for chosen families by sharing positive actions that others in the community can take to ensure that the participation and contributions of 2SLGBTQI+ people living with dementia are encouraged, supported and valued.

Dementia Strategic Fund – Provincial/Territorial Online Dementia Information Resources

Project Title: A Hub for Dementia and Awareness in New Brunswick
Recipient: New Brunswick Department of Health
Funding: $146,179
Project Details: This project will build an online provincial hub for dementia education and awareness in New Brunswick. It will address topics including what dementia is, dementia risk reduction, how to seek a diagnosis, living with dementia, caregiver resources, community resources, and more. A digital advertising campaign to raise awareness of this new education and awareness website will be developed and launched.

Project Title: Digital Dementia Resource for the Yukon
Recipient: Government of Yukon, Department of Health and Social Services
Funding: $95,277
Project Details: A centralized, online hub for dementia resources will be developed and housed on Yukon.ca. Consultation will include subject matter experts, people living with dementia, caregivers, Indigenous representatives, health care practitioners, and other relevant groups.

Project Title: Online Dementia Information Resources
Recipient: Government of The Northwest Territories, Department of Health And Social Service
Funding: $238,300
Project Details: This project will expand dementia-related content for the Department of Health and Social Services, Northwest Territories (NWT) website to ensure residents, individuals with dementia, families and care providers have access to evidence-informed and NWT specific information and resources. To make online dementia related content more accessible, materials will be translated into the 11 official languages of the NWT, which includes nine Indigenous languages in addition to English and French.

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