Resources for health-care professionals

The Alzheimer Society of Ontario offers resources and information for health-care professionals. Local Alzheimer Societies may have additional resources.

• Language Guidelines – person-centred guidelines about preferred language for anyone who loves, cares for, supports, or works with a person living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.
• First Link^® - physicians can refer people with dementia to First Link®,  a program offered by some Alzheimer Societies that connects people with dementia to services and supports in their communities
• The importance of early diagnosis – brochure for physicians
• 10 warning signs
• Progression series – five-part series that describes the stages of Alzheimer’s disease written for the person with the disease, families and caregivers
• Safely Home^® -  online courses for care facilities and police and emergency services about emergency preparedness and search and rescue when people with dementia go missing
• Canadian Dementia Resource And Knowledge Exhange (CDRAKE) – shares dementia resources and knowledge both in-person and online for industry, researchers, clinicians, policy makers, people with dementia, and caregivers  
• Dementia education website – interactive learning modules, clinical practice and educational resources
• The Alzheimer Knowledge Exchange (AKE) – an Ontario-based website that facilitates the exchange of information, innovation and expertise among caregivers, educators, researchers and policy makers
• The Foundation for Medical Practice Education – dedicated to the development, production and evaluation of educational programs for community-based family medicine and general practitioners
• Sleep: A critical but overlooked aspect of dementia management – Resources, information and research to help families understand the sleep problems that can be associated with dementia. Designed by researchers from the Sleep and Function Interdisciplinary Group in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta.
• Sagelink.ca - the online home of the Centre for Studies in Aging & Health at Providence Care. It is a web-based resource for geriatric patients, their caregivers and health professionals in south-east Ontario and beyond.

Screening and diagnosis

• Questions to ask when cognitive impairment is suspected
• Principles for a dignified diagnosis
• Targeted Screening for Dementia (PDF)
  By William B. Dalziel, MD, FRCPC
  Source: The Canadian Review of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
• Depression vs. Dementia: How Do We Assess? (PDF)
  By Lilian Thorpe MD, PhD, FRCP
  Source: The Canadian Review of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
• Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly – Recognition, Diagnosis and Management

Alzheimer’s disease research

• Sleep: A critical but overlooked aspect of dementia management
• 10/66 Dementia Research Group - Encourages active collaboration between research groups in different developing countries, and between developed and developing countries.
• Alzheimer Research Forum - Promotes scientific communication and creative thinking in the search for the causes and treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
• The Institute for Life Course and Aging (ILCA) - Seminar presented by Dr. Mary Mittelman, of New York University's School of Medicine, at the ILCA, on September 10, 2007, entitled "The Science Behind Caregiver Interventions: Research Trends".
• The Kenneth G. Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program
  A unit of the Centre for Applied Health Research (CAHR) of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo in Ontario, MAREP is in partnership with six long-term care facilities (Innovation Centres) where onsite research on best practices and innovative approaches is conducted.
• Research Canada - An Alliance for Health Discovery is a not-for-profit, voluntary organization that is a strong national voice for health research advocacy in Canada.
• International Psychogeriatric Association - Includes a section on Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD).
• The Physician Education Website for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
  Part of a multi-faceted Ontario education program to inform and promote practice change on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Training and e-learning

Dementia and disasters e-learning program

Learn how to prepare to care for vulnerable older adults and people living with dementia in a disaster. Hosted by the Canadian Dementia Research and Knowledge Exchange

Free driving and dementia e-learning module

This free e-learning module addresses the needs of physicians for resources related to driving and dementia, and to help navigate the process of assessing fitness-to-drive, disclosure, reporting and more.

DriveABLE™

An effective tool to determine whether someone with a medical condition is able to drive safely.

Tough issues

Learn how to respond to some of these tough issues: [all link to pdfs]

• Communicating the diagnosis
• Living alone
• Quality of life
• Driving
• Decision-making
• Participation in research
• Genetic testing
• Intimacy and sexuality
• Restraints