#ITStarts campaign

Once again this March, the County of Simcoe is promoting its #ITSTARTS awareness campaign, designed to take a proactive step towards addressing racism and discrimination in Simcoe County.

The #ITSTARTS campaign works to promote a unified community that encourages collective action against racism and discrimination, and it is supported by the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County.

According to a 2024 Alzheimer Society Canada Landmark Study, with an aging population in Canada, we are now witnessing a rapidly growing number of older adults from a wide range of ethnic and racial backgrounds. With age as the strongest risk factor for dementia, this diversity in older Canadians is also reflected within the population of people living with dementia in Canada.

The County of Simcoe estimates by 2026, over 30% of residents living here will list their mother tongue (language) as something other than English.

And over the next 30 years, we can expect even further changes to the ethnic and racial makeup of people living with dementia in Canada.

While there have not been a lot of Canadian studies on this topic, there is emerging evidence that strongly suggests Black populations in Canada have a higher occurrence of dementia compared to other populations, while at the same time experiencing gaps in culturally responsive care and adequate supports (Iroanyah et al., 2021).

Care services for people living with dementia need to be designed to meet the diverse needs of these populations. Canada’s national dementia strategy emphasizes the need for increased understanding and expanded data on health-related issues in ethnic and cultural minority communities in order to assist efforts in dementia risk reduction.

Our staff receive ongoing training in equity and diversity, and we are showing our support with the #ITSTARTS campaign.

The campaign runs every year during the month of March. 

If you’d like to get involved in the campaign, you can: 

1. Request cards from the Local Immigration Partnership ([email protected]).  Multilingual digital copies are available for download on the county's webpage, simcoe.ca.

2. Share your message on social media using the hashtag #ITSTARTS and tagging the County of Simcoe: 

3. Perform acts of inclusivity within your sphere of influence (i.e. book or film club, multicultural celebrations). 

4. Join the Simcoe County Diversity Hub for additional resources. Contact [email protected] for access.