We are excited to share with you some updates and knowledge exchange opportunities:

• New Pain Matters Guide
• Catalyst Initiative: Ontario’s Best Practice Exchange
• Finding Your Way - Living Safely in the Community
• Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) Knowledge Translation and Exchange Program
• The Alzheimer Association International Conference (AAIC)
• Art Talk
• Upcoming Events
• Events On Demand
• Featured Resources
• In the News

 

New Pain Matters Guide

Pain is the body’s warning sign that something is wrong. Many chronic illnesses and painful conditions cause pain—such as diabetes, arthritis and toothaches. But because people living with dementia struggle to express pain in typical ways, they often have untreated pain. This is especially an issue for people in the later stages of dementia who may struggle to communicate. 

A new guide called Pain Matters is now available to help family members, friends and caregivers of people with dementia recognize the relationship between responsive behaviour and pain. Behaviour has meaning and it may be an expression of pain. The guide was created in partnership with the brainXchange and Alzheimer Society of Ontario. Learn more
 

Catalyst Initiative: Ontario’s Best Practice Exchange

brainXchange is proud to be partnering with the Behavioural Supports Ontario Provincial Coordinating Office (BSO PCO) to further the development of person and family-centred best practices, which were initiated September 25th, 2015 at the Catalyst Event. This event brought together individuals with lived experience, providers and system leaders to officially launch this work and further drive best practice initiatives forward. The Executive Summary and Full Report of the event are now available, we encourage you to have a look!

There were  7 key areas of practice identified in relation to this event: 1) Person & Family Centred Care; 2) Behavioural Support Services Mobile Teams; 3) Behavioural Support Transition Units; 4) Antipsychotic Use; 5) Health Links & Primary Care; 6) Substance Use; and 7) Tertiary Care & In-Patient Specialty Services. We are pleased to report that 3 of these Collaboratives (Substance Use / Geriatric Addictions, Behavioural Support Services Mobile Teams & Behavioural Support Transition Units) have been deemed ‘Accelerated’, meaning that they will be provided with additional support in the months ahead to further their work while the remaining 3 areas will be supported and developed over time. Rather than having the Person and Family-Centred collaborative as a separate collaborative, this collaborative has formed into an Advisory which will be overseeing the work ahead.

Each of these collaboratives are led by Co-Chairs who work in the field and are supported by a knowledge broker from brainXchange as well as a project coordinator with the BSO PCO.  These teams will work closely with their Collaborative members to: i) Plan how to utilize the rich information generated at the Catalyst Event, ii) Establish a plan for knowledge transfer & iii) Continue to integrate the Lived Experience into future work all while ensuring sustainability.

If you wish to get involved in any of the collaboratives please contact Jillian McConnell . You can also subscribe to the BSO newsletter for continued updates by clicking here.
 

Finding Your Way helps community members understand that we all live with risk everyday and provides strategies on how we can reduce our risk so that we may all live safely in the community.

Finding Your Way launched a new website (www.findingyourwayontario.ca) which features:

For the past year brainXchange has worked with the CCNA Knowledge Translation and Exchange Program to host a series of integrated webinar events in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the goal of this series is to translate existing and new knowledge from the CCNA into improved care policies, practices, procedures, products, and services by meeting the specific needs of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases and their care partners. Topics covered included: Get ready for an Emergency Department Visit: Older Adult Hospital Readiness; A Patient-Centred Approach to Being with Older Adults with Dementia; and Anti-Psychotics in Older Adults.  View more archived events

The AAIC is coming to Toronto this July! The brainXchange is partnering with 19 other Canadian organizations to create a Canadian "pavilion" within the exhibition hall at the conference. It will be a one-stop shop to connecting with organizations with an interest in dementia research that is most relevant to you. We hope to see you there!! For more information about the conference and how to register - click here