Introduction: Dementia Awareness Program by Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Chair Selina Chow

According to the World Health Organization, dementia is an increasing public health priority. In fact, over 47 million people worldwide are affected by dementia. Every year, there are nearly 8 million new cases and this figure is predicted to triple by 2050 (http://www.who.int/topics/dementia/en/).

In order to raise awareness of dementia, five high school students from Havergal College in Toronto, Canada will visit residents in a dementia care home on a weekly basis beginning November 2016. During their weekly interactions, the students will engage in conversation and brain-stimulating activities with the residents, under the supervision of Professor Herrmann and the staff at the dementia care home. Through this experience, these students will learn about the residents' daily lives, the challenges people with dementia encounter, and the care they receive from health care professionals. 

Together with Professor Herrmann, these students plan to share the knowledge they learn about dementia with the wider community, as they believe that education is an important step in order to de-stigmatize dementia - especially since dementia is such a prevalent and increasing concern in society today. They will be publishing a weekly series of 15 blogs covering the following topics:

  

Week 1: What is dementia?

Week 2: How common is dementia in Canada and around the world?

Week 3: What are the causes of dementia?

Week 4: Among the causes of dementia, which is the most common and how does it present?

Week 5: What are the early warning signs of dementia?

Week 6: How is dementia graded in terms of severity?

Week 7: How do we treat dementia?

Week 8: Can we prevent cognitive decline?

Week 9: What are the common medications used to treat dementia?

Week 10: What are the non-medication treatment approaches - Part I?

Week 11: What are the non-medication treatment approaches - Part II?

Week 12: How do we communicate with a person with dementia?

Week 13: Reflections from the five students regarding their experience of working with people with dementia

Week 14: Future prospects and research in dementia

Week 15: Concluding remarks from Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Chair Selina Chow 

We hope this will be of interest to you and the community. Together, we can learn more about this important cause and work to de-stigmatize dementia.

You can also follow Dr. Herrmann’s “Memory Doctor” blog for dementia caregivers at: http://health.sunnybrook.ca/memory-doctor/

Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Chair Selina Chow 

Nathan Herrmann MD FRCPC
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Lewar Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry

Head, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

2075 Bayview Ave, Room FG19

Toronto, Ont. M4N 3M5