Canada's National Dementia Strategy is Bold and Balanced

Persons with dementia were active participants  

CALGARY, June 18, 2019 /CNW/ - Dementia Advocacy Canada applauds the inclusion of people living with dementia as equals in the creation of Canada's first national dementia strategy: A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire.

The strategy was informed by extensive consultations with individuals with lived experience and guided by the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia, whose members include two individuals living with dementia: Jim Mann, a retired executive entrepreneur and advocate from B.C., and Mary Beth Wighton, Chair and Co-Founder of the Ontario Dementia Advisory Group from Ontario. Wighton is also co-chair of Dementia Advocacy Canada.

"This is a bold and balanced dementia strategy with human rights as a core principle," says Wighton, noting the government's commitment to follow through on promises to allocate at least one per cent of dementia care costs (currently over $8 billion) to research funding.

The new dementia strategy emphasizes reducing stigma, access to timely diagnosis, rehabilitation, effective care coordination and the importance of a skilled workforce. It acknowledges care-partner challenges, including burnout and financial hardship as well as low wages, lack of training and limited resources for personal support workers.

More than half a million Canadians are currently living with dementia and there are approximately 70 new cases of dementia in Canada each day. Dementia Advocacy Canada is hopeful that this strategy will be fully implemented, be appropriately funded and address the organization's three priorities:

• A single point of contact to mitigate the difficulty navigating a fragmented system 
• Standards of excellence in dementia education 
• Rehabilitation to live as well as possible with dementia

About Dementia Advocacy Canada
We are a grassroots group of people living with dementia and care partners. We want to influence policy, inform program development and improve access to support and services across Canada.

SOURCE Dementia Advocacy Canada