By Sarah Bonato, Reference/Research Librarian, CAMH Library
January is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Every year, 25,000 Canadians are diagnosed with dementia. In 2016, the population of seniors began to outnumber children in Canada for the first time since Confederation. By 2020, it's expected close to 250,000 Ontario seniors will be diagnosed and living with dementia—highlighting an increased need for more dementia research and interventions.
See below for a selection of research on the impact of dementia and how to care for patients and family members.
Role of the Family Physician in Dementia Care, by A. Moore, C. Frank, & L.W. Chambers (2018)
From Canadian Family Physician, 64(10), 717-719
- This commentary provides info on what type of care patients with dementia and their caregivers should expect from their family physicians and may be appropriate for wide range of readers, including clinicians, patients, families, and caregivers.
Family physicians often are the first point of contact for dementia related concerns, and family physicians can be responsible for providing care during both the early and end stages of dementia. Specific roles of the family physician are highlighted, such as their role in advising patients on the prevention of dementia, ensuring a timely diagnosis and determining the stage of dementia, ruling out other conditions that might look like dementia and post diagnosis management.
Access at https://www.cfp.ca/content/64/10/717
Person-Centred Language Guidelines (2018)
From the Alzheimer Society
- A source to help select appropriate and respectful language for talking about dementia. This tool can be used by those who provide treatment, caregiving or support to people with dementia and also their family members. The guideline includes a helpful list of terms to avoid using and is an especially helpful resource to consult when writing and reviewing policies and procedures, information
resources, website content, promotional materials, media releases and presentations. The guidelines were developed with input from those living with dementia.
Alzheimer Society invites feedback on the guideline and suggestions of terms that might be included in future versions are welcomed—just email [email protected] with “person-centred language guidelines” in the subject line.
Access at https://alzheimer.ca/en/peel/About-dementia/For-health-care-professionals/culture-change-towards-person-centred-care/person-centred-language-guidelines
References
Chambers, L. W., Bancej, C., & McDowell, I. (2016). Prevalence and Monetary Costs of Dementia in Canada. Alzheimer Society of Canada; Statistics Canada (2017). "Age and sex, and type of dwelling data: Key results from the 2016 Census". The Daily, May 3, 2017. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-X
Brayne, C., & Miller, B. (2017). Dementia and aging populations—A global priority for contextualized research and health policy. PLoS Medicine, 14(3), e1002275.
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