References to continuing care (including home care, designated supportive living, long term care and hospice) may not reflect the updated language or terms found in the new Alberta Continuing Care Act effective April 1, 2024. Refer to the Continuing Care Glossary for definitions.
Albertans have expressed a desire to remain in their homes and communities as they age. In order to support individuals to remain at home, integrated community-based health and social services are required that optimize individuals independence, quality of life and wellbeing, including those Albertans living with dementia.
Opening Mind through Art (OMA) is an art therapy program for people living with dementia. The OMA program promotes social engagement, autonomy and dignity. This initiative will expand the reach of OMA by providing training to up to 25 Adult Day Programs in the Calgary area.
Read more | Mid-project update | OMA art | OMA video | Final Report | Evaluation | Testimonials
Starting in two communities, this initiative will build community capacity to support people to age-in-place, while also raising public awareness about dementia with the aim to reduce stigma. Findings will be used to create a Dementia Friendly Community toolkit to support dementia friendly community development across Alberta.
Read more | Mid-project update | Final Report | Evaluation | Website
The Moving for Memory program combines cognitive and physical activity to promote health promoting behavior changes targeting people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment to those with more pronounced dementia. This health promotion initiative also provides transportation for those where transportation is an issue and promotes early linkages to community supports.
MusicLINKs is an innovative approach to music programming involving youth and people living with dementia in long term care. Twenty-four dementia residents will each be paired with two youth volunteers. Each pairing will work with the family and care team to develop a weekly plan of engagement activities and a personalised music playlist will be provided to each participating resident at the end of the initiative.
Read more | Mid-project update | Final Report | Evaluation | Toolkit
The goal of this project is to provide opportunities for inclusion of residents living in long term care to participate in normal activities of daily living. Residents will participate in mealtime activities such as food preparation, mealtime set up and clean up alongside staff, thus promoting choice, participation and inclusion.
The CARERS program is an evidence-based training program designed to deliver targeted and tailored skill-building interventions using simulated patients in order to teach family caregivers about how to better manage day-to-day caregiving demands. Three groups will go through the CARERS program, with sessions being delivered in Mandarin and in Cantonese.
This initiative focuses on how by working together, the Westview health, social and business sectors can increase inclusion and reduce stigma for people affected by dementia. The project team, working closely with people affected by dementia will build an understanding of barriers that limit opportunities to participate fully in their community. Individualized community engagement plans will be developed, leading to strategies for ongoing community partnerships and education.
This initiative provides opportunity to increase organizational capacity to deliver, evaluate and sustain the Butterfly Household Model of care, which focuses on relationship-based vs. task-based approaches to dementia care. The evaluation of practice change will occur at four Supportive Living sites, two Lifestyle Options sites and two Choices in Community Living sites.
Read more | Mid-project update | Final Report | Evaluation | Responses
