Background: Individuals with dementia have communication limitations resulting from cognitive impairments that define the syndrome. Whereas there are numerous cognitive assessments for individuals with dementia, there are far fewer communication assessments. The Profiling Communication Ability in Dementia (P-CAD) was developed to address this gap.…

For caregivers of people living with major neurocognitive disorders (MNCD), adapting and applying methods optimizing learning (MOL) to a specific situation, based on preserved cognitive skills, can be challenging. This study aimed to 1) co-develop workshops, a web application and accompanying materials to support the operationalization of MOL; 2)…

This short essay uses James Thompson's aesthetics of care to examine 'Memory in Two Voices', a multi-vocal poetry performance about dementia by long-time lesbian partners Chris Morrissey and Bridget Coll. Noting how Chris and Bridget's years-long tenure in the Queer Imaging and Riting Kollective for Elders, an arts and performance group based in…

Worldwide, 50 million people live with dementia. There is a failure to identify best practices for teaching students to identify the common features of dementia and to determine effective ways to prevent behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to examine whether exposure to a…

More than 20 years ago, the concept of using the Montessori Method as a treatment for dementia was discussed in the pages of "Montessori Life" (Vance, Camp, Kabacoff, & Greenwalt, 1996). At that time, research was just beginning on this topic. Since that initial article, the use of the Montessori Method with older adults with…

The construct of cognitive reserve has primarily been defined in terms of a single proxy measure, education. There may, however, be alternative, potentially additive, proxy measures of cognitive reserve, such as rural or urban residence. Using a large sample of 10,263 older Canadians, ranging in age between 64 and 99 years (mean age = 75.7 years,…

This article describes the healing benefits of art therapy for an individual with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. In this clinical case description, a woman diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease received individual art therapy for 17 weeks. The treatment concerns that arose, altered view of reality, agitation, and retrogenesis provide insight on…

Biased sampling occurs frequently in economics, epidemiology, and medical studies either by design or due to data collecting mechanism. Failing to take into account the sampling bias usually leads to incorrect inference. We propose a unified estimation procedure and a computationally fast resampling method to make statistical inference for…

An understanding of the specific dementia learning needs of home care staff is needed to plan relevant continuing education (CE) programs and supports. The study's objective was to examine frequency and perceived competence in performing 20 dementia-related work activities, and identify CE priorities among home care staff. A cross-sectional survey…

Interviews and participant observation are commonly used to explore the experience of dementia, yet may not adequately capture perspectives of persons with dementia as communication changes. We used photovoice (i.e., using cameras in qualitative research) along with interviews and participant observation to explore meanings of leisure for persons…

Home care staff who provide housekeeping and personal care to individuals with dementia generally have lower levels of dementia care training compared with other health care providers. The study's purposes were to determine whether the professional role of home care staff in a predominantly rural region was associated with preferences for delivery…

Introduction: Primary care is challenged to meet the needs of patients with dementia. A training program was developed to increase capacity for dementia care through the development of Family Health Team (FHT)-based interprofessional memory clinics. The interprofessional training program consisted of a 2-day workshop, 1-day observership, and 2-day…

Meaningful translation of dementia research findings from the bench to the bedside is dependent on the quality of the knowledge to transfer and the availability and skills of investigators engaged in the knowledge translation process. Although there is no shortage of research on dementia, the latter has been more challenging. Results from a survey…

Background: The choice of activities responding to the needs of people with moderate to severe dementia is a growing concern for care providers trying to target the need for a feeling of self-accomplishment by adapting activities to the abilities of elderly patients. The activities created by Maria Montessori seem to be adaptable to this…

This article explores facilitators and barriers to the impact and sustainability of a learning initiative to increase capacity of long-term care (LTC) homes to manage the mental health needs of older persons, through development of in-house Psychogeriatric Resource Persons (PRPs). Twenty interviews were conducted with LTC staff. Management…