Alzheimer Society Brochures and publications

The Alzheimer Society of Canada offers resources for people with dementia, caregivers, family members and health-care practitioners. View our programs and services brochure or visit your local Alzheimer Society for more information and resources in your area.

Please note that some of these documents are large and could take a few minutes to download. Having trouble with PDFs?

Alzheimer's disease

• What is Alzheimer's disease? (print-friendly version)
• Dispelling the myths (print-friendly version)
• 10 warning signs (print-friendly version)
• What to expect (print-friendly version)
• First steps (print-friendly version)

Other dementias

• Corticobasal degeneration
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease 
• Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease
• Frontotemporal dementia
• Huntington’s disease
• Lewy body dementia
• Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Multiple sclerosis
• Niemann-Pick disease type C
• Normal pressure hydrocephalus
• Parkinson’s disease
• Posterior cortical atrophy
• Progressive supranuclear palsy
• Traumatic brain injury
• Vascular dementia
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome

Progression of Alzheimer’s disease

• Overview
• Early Stage
• Middle Stage
• Late Stage
• End of Life

Diagnosis

• Benefits of an early diagnosis
• Getting a diagnosis (print-friendly version)
• Getting a diagnosis toolkit
• Preparing for your doctor's visit
• Principles for a dignified diagnosis

Person-centred care

• PC P.E.A.R.L.S.: 7 key elements of person-centred care
• Guidelines for care: executive summary
• Guidelines for care: framework
• Person centred language guidelines (one page version)
• All about me - a booklet designed for people living with dementia, to help them create a record of their background and what is important to them
• All about me: A conversation starter - a shorter tool that provides a “snapshot” of the person in order to start a conversation
• Meaningful Engagement of People with Dementia: A Resource Guide

Living with dementia

• Communication
• Driving
• Quality of life
• Decision-making 
• Locating devices 
• Personal care
• Meal time
• Living alone
• Intimacy and sexuality
• Restraints
• Shared experiences - a booklet designed to answer some of your questions and concerns about living with Alzheimer's disease (also available in audio files)
• Communication challenges and helpful strategies for the person with dementia - this brochure offers some helpful communication strategies for people with dementia who may find themselves struggling with changes in their communication ability
• Memory tips & tricks - an information sheet for strategies to help you manage your memory problems, based on ideas and suggestions provided by people living with memory loss
• Be Ready for an Emergency Department Visit - a joint publication between the Alzheimer Society of Canada and the Older Adult Hospital Readiness (OAHR) Research Program Team)

Caring for someone with dementia

• First steps for families (print-friendly version)
• Ways to help
• Caregiving options
• Reducing caregiver stress (print-friendly version)
• Moving to long-term care series:
  • Considering the move to a long-term care home
  • Preparing for a move
  • Handling moving day
  • Adjusting after a move
• Ambiguous loss and grief in dementia: A resource for individuals and families
• Ambiguous loss and grief in dementia: Strategies for living positively with ambiguous loss and grief (a checklist)
• A handbook for care
• Meaningful visits
• Young onset dementia: Facilitators resource guide

Treatment

• Treatment options (print-friendly version)
• Medications for Alzheimer's disease: are they right for you?
• Drug approval process
• For Family Doctors
• For Pharmacists

Risk factors and genetics

• Risk factors 
• Understanding Genetics and Alzheimer’s Disease 

Clinical trials

• Checklist for participating in research studies: what should I ask?
• Participating in research
• How medicines are developed
• Your guide to clinical trials
• Physician's guide to clinical trials

Programs & services

• MedicAlert^® Safely Home^®
• First Link^®
• Programs and services

Kids and teens

• Resource list for kids
• Resource list for teens
• Just for Kids: Helping children understand Alzheimer's disease
• Just for Kids: Helping teens understand Alzheimer's disease

Healthy living

• Heads up for healthier living 
• Heads up for healthier brains (print-friendly version)

For health-care professionals

• Importance of early diagnosis
• Questions for family physicians and health professionals to ask when cognitive impairment is suspected
• Principles for a dignified diagnosis
• Communicating the diagnosis
• Ambiguous loss and grief: A resource for health-care providers
• Ambiguous loss and grief: What you can do to help family caregivers cope: Tips and strategies (a checklist)
• Dementia and staff grief

For first responders

• First Responder Handbook - this handbook expands on the information above to provide first responders with more details on how to recognize, communicate with and respond to someone with dementia.
• 10 Communication Tips - this pocket sheet for first responders has helpful tips that anyone can use when talking to a person with dementia