This year marks the fourth year of our Dementia Awareness Program – a unique partnership led by Professor Nathan Herrmann and a group of high school students and alumni at Havergal College in Toronto, Canada. In September 2016, we created this program with the aim of raising awareness of and de-stigmatizing dementia both among our peers and school community, while also extending our work to the wider community. Since then, we have been fortunate to work closely with and be mentored by Professor Herrmann – the Richard Lewar Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto.
With our vision to champion dementia, the Dementia Awareness Programprovides students the opportunity to enrich the lives of seniors with dementia. Each week, our two student leaders coordinate a group of dedicated volunteers to visit a local seniors’ residence, where each student is paired up with an individual with dementia. As we gain first-hand experience working with people with dementia, we have taken the initiative to share what we have learned about dementia and the current research in the field on our blog throughout the past three years. We are proud to be international ambassadors for dementia by increasing awareness of this important illness via our blog, which has received over 3,500 visits from readers all over the world.
We are looking forward to continuing the Dementia Awareness Program this school year through both our blog here and the community partnership between Havergal College students and a local seniors’ residence.
Our monthly blog series this year will shine a spotlight on the community by raising awareness of the resources and support available for dementia patients and caregivers from Canadian organizations and the government. In particular, we will be featuring Canada’s recently published National Dementia Strategy, along with national organizations dedicated to helping patients and their families through research, healthcare delivery, education and/or advocacy.
We hope that you are as excited as we are to explore the resources and support available in the community for individuals and families affected by dementia. Together, we can work to restore some of what dementia takes away.
You can also follow Professor Herrmann’s “Memory Doctor” blog for dementia caregivers at: http://health.sunnybrook.ca/memory-doctor/
Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Executive Team
Chair Selina Chow
Vice-Chair Sae Furukawa
Vice-Chair Katie Taub
Nathan Herrmann MD FRCPC
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Lewar Chair, Geriatric Psychiatry
Head, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
