Led by the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA), CDLRN and the community-based projects are funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. These projects focus on the development of innovative tools, resources and approaches that enhance the wellbeing of people living with dementia and care partners by increasing awareness, support, knowledge and understanding of dementia.
These innovations are shared broadly to support dementia policy and practice across Canada.
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What's happening at CDLRN? |
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CDLRN hosts Annual Forum
CDLRN recently hosted its first in-person Annual Form at the RIA in Waterloo, Ontario. This event brought together more than 30 team members from 13 Dementia Community Investment (DCI) projects across Canada.
The Annual Forum explored how DCI projects can develop meaningful plans for sustainability after the funding period concludes, and included a sustainability workshop, led by Dr. Julia Moore from the Center for Implementation.
The Annual Forum was an opportunity for DCI projects to connect, build new and enhance existing relationships to support collaboration and leverage lessons learned. In addition, attendees had the opportunity to share, build and improve upon their plans for sustainability, spread and scale by receiving feedback and recommendations from speakers and people with expertise, including other DCI projects.
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Minds in Motion & DREAM - November 7, 2022
Webinar: Exercise & Dementia: a discussion of lessons learned
In this webinar, Vanessa Barnes, Project Manager, Minds in Motion, and Dr. Laura Middleton, Researcher, DREAM and Minds in Motion will talk about the benefits of physical activity for people living with dementia, discuss their exercise-related projects, share best practices for making physical activity and exercise dementia-friendly. People living with dementia and care partners will share their experiences participating in physical activity and the impact it has had on their lives. The Minds in Motion team will also lead a short exercise demonstration, as a preview of the program.
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Dementia-Friendly Canada - November 9, 2022
A dialogue about dementia-friendly experience in retail and restaurants
This presentation is for professionals working in the retail and restaurant sectors. During this presentation, you will learn about the concept of dementia-friendly communities and be introduced to several resources to support you in creating retail and restaurant spaces that are dementia friendly.
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CERAH Speaker Series: Exploring dementia through the French language lens -November 16, 2022
Join Joanne Chalifour, Consultant & Producer of the Dementia Dialogue Podcast Francophone Series & Emily Shandruk, Project Manager, Dementia Dialogue Podcast.
This presentation will provide a brief review of the Dementia Dialogue podcast and how the learning from the first few years has been translated to the Francophone community.
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Dementia-Friendly Canada: November 24
A dialogue about a dementia-friendly experience in recreation and libraries
This presentation is for professionals working in the recreation and library sectors. During this presentation, you will learn about the concept of dementia-friendly communities and be introduced to several resources to support you in creating retail and restaurant spaces that are dementia friendly.
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This project works to develop, implement and evaluate promising programs, practices, and initiatives that improve the quality of life for people living with dementia in Hamilton and Haldimand County, including the Faces of Dementia awareness campaign which highlights the stories of what living with dementia can look like.
The project has hosted in-person events including gallery event launches at the Sackville Hill Seniors Centre in Hamilton and the Minga Cafe in Dunnville and a “Memory Inclusive Communities Everywhere” festival in Caledonia.
The project has also created free training and resources to help businesses and organizations become more dementia friendly.
To register yourself or your business to receive this free 1-hour training session (online or in-person), click the link button below or contact Wendy at wendy@hamiltoncoa.com.
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Physical activity guidelines for people living with dementia
The DREAM project team recently collaborated with the Ontario Brain Institute to develop Physical Activity Guidelines for People Living with Dementia. Active living can support positive impacts for people living with dementia. This resource summarizes the benefits and different types of physical activity, including examples of how to achieve each type and strategies to maintain an exercise routine and stay safe.
To learn more about active living and dementia, download this resource.
Authorship & Acknowledgement:
Shared with permission from the Dementia Resources for Eating, Activity, and Meaningful Inclusion (DREAM) project and the Ontario Brain Institute.
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We encourage you to visit the CDLRN website to explore many other resources on various topics from all the DCI projects.
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In this section, we highlight stories and contributions from people living with dementia.
This edition features a piece from Kathleen Vanderlinden, who is living with young onset Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Kathleen is an active member of several organizations and participates in many groups, including the Waterloo Region Dementia Advisory Group (WRDAG), Young Onset Dementia Association (YODA), and Dementia Action Alliance (DAA), among others. In this article, she reflects on recent travels.
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Recently, my husband and I went on a vacation to Ireland (right, a photo of Kathleen and her husband Rob at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland). The trip was absolutely magical and I loved every aspect of it - it’s too hard to choose just one highlight.
Sometimes traveling with dementia may seem daunting, but I have some tips to help make it as enjoyable as possible:
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Plan ahead. Before you go, call the airport or the airline you will be flying with. Let them know if you need any accommodations, like a wheelchair to take you around.
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Find the right activity. When planning your itinerary, call around or write to different companies to ask about suitable excursions (i.e. for me, this meant one that wasn’t too intense for a lady who cannot go too far!). I went for a great trip with a local tour company and it was amazing! Damien, the tour guide, knew so much and was so helpful to me. There were only fifteen people on the bus, so we got to know everyone.
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Dress for the weather. Consider the time of year when you will be traveling. We decided to visit Ireland in July and August, as it was so warm and sunny. Even in the summer though, remember to be prepared with a sweater and raincoat.
It was such a grand time. Sláinte!
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CDLRN is hosted by the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). Production of this project has been made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada. |
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