What is this Study about?

Smart home technology is being adapted to support the care at home of persons with dementia (PWD). This technology has potential to reduce burden on informal carers and improve their quality of life; however, it is unknown what the desires are of informal carers with respect to the use of smart home technology. This study will interview 15 carers, to determine how smart home technology might address behavioural and safety concerns of their loved one.

What is this Study about?

Young dementia caregivers are people under the age of 24 who provide care to someone living with dementia. Young caregivers are often called a “hidden population” because they are difficult to identify, and their needs are often unrecognized. Dementia caregivers face many challenges, like busy schedules, emotional and mental burdens, competing priorities, not enough time for a social life, loneliness, and many more.

Our research team aims to learn more about the social connection of young caregivers (aged 18-24 years) of people living with dementia (YCPLWD) in Ontario and improve it. Social connection is defined as “how people connect to each other, and it is made up of multiple distinct aspects”. In Phase 1 of our project, we will conduct focus groups with YCPLWD to learn more about their social connection. Then, in Phase 2, we will try to improve their social connection, by applying the perspectives and ideas of YCPLWD themselves.

Our project is important because it will raise awareness for YCPLWD in research and education, as an underrepresented population with unique and specific experiences. They may face unique challenges that can be further explored, categorized, and analyzed in future projects.

More importantly, by acknowledging and addressing caregiver voices, our project can foster a broader societal impact by informing the development of resources to educate and support YCPLWD. These interventions can increase the quality of life for young caregivers, and lead to improved care and favourable health outcomes for the dementia community.

What is this Study about?

The aim of our study is to better understand whether certain lifestyle factors (such as physical activity and hearing) are related to early changes in memory and thinking abilities in older adults. We are especially interested in enrolling individuals who are South Asian or East Asian, because little research has focused on brain health in Canadians of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.

By participating, you will help us better understand how lifestyle factors are related to memory and thinking changes in adults from diverse communities. We hope that this will lead to improved prevention and early intervention strategies for dementia.

What is this Study about?

The aim of this study is to support family and friend caregivers by creating an online community of caregivers called a Virtual Community of Practice. We will create and evaluate a Community of Practice to see if it can improve the quality of life, skills, and confidence of caregivers in engaging persons living with dementia in social and stimulating activities. The Community of Practice includes online information and regular group meetings. Information gathered will help to provide caregiver support by providing them a safe and informative place for them to learn and interact with other caregivers.

What is this Study about?

This study, "Stranger than Family: Decision-Making & Ethics of Substitution for People Living With

Dementia Going It Alone", explores how people facing dementia alone are connected with a substitute

decision-maker and how ideas about capacity, consent, and decision-making affect them.

Interviews will be conducted with:

- People who are facing dementia alone

- Healthcare and social service workers

- Substitute decision-makers for others who are not close family members or close friends

The overall goal of this study is to identify opportunities for advocacy, policy, and practice change to

better support people facing dementia alone.

What is this Study about?

The aim of this study is to develop a new psychological questionnaire that measures compassion fatigue – emotional and physical exhaustion that involves a decreased ability to experience empathy and compassion for others – and captures experiences unique to individuals acting as caregivers for their family members who suffer from dementia. The results of this study will be disseminated through scientific publications and conference presentations.

What is this Study about?

[email protected] is a 5-week virtual reality at-home intervention with the goal to explore whether virtual reality experiences can enhance communication between persons living with dementia and their care partners. We also aim to explore how a head-mounted VR system, which delivers a fully immersive experience compares to a Tablet-based technology.

What is this Study about?

PREVENT is recruiting healthy control participants for a prospective longitudinal cohort study. The aim of the study is to help doctors diagnose dementia sooner using serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other biomarkers in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid.

What is this Study about?

The objective of this research is to conduct telephone interviews with people living with dementia and/or their family carers to explore their perspective of, and experience with, local community-based programs and services in southeast Saskatchewan communities and surrounding areas of RaDAR memory clinics.