Dementia Dialogue

Although Granville Johnson is living with dementia, he remains part of the community. Granville is a website designer, an artist, a musician (jimbe), a teacher (school and music), and a community dignitary, and he performs and speaks at community events. After he was diagnosed with dementia, he continued his community work introduced by the BC Alzheimer society. He was introduced to the Dementia A...

In this episode of our Young Onset Dementia series, guest host Kathy Hickman of the brainXchange and Alzheimer Society of Ontario sits down with her niece Rachel Broderick of Owen Sound, Ontario, whose Mother and Grandmother both developed and died in their 40s of a rare form of Alzheimer’s Disease. (Familial) caused by a genetic mutation. Rachel, along with her brother (both teens at the time), c...

Lisa Loiselle speaks with Brenda Hounam and Colleen Whyte about friendship and dementia. Brenda was diagnosed with early onset dementia at age 53. She met Lisa in 2002 when they, and others planned the first ever conference by and for people living with dementia – A Changing Melody.  Brenda and Lisa continue to work on many dementia advocacy initiatives and have formed a deep and meaningful relati...

Our summer reprises focus on the theme of advocacy at the system, community service and individual level.  In this episode originally released in May 2018, Louise Milligan describes how her husband Gord was diagnosed with dementia while still teaching and raising two daughters. Louise speaks eloquently about the challenges their family faced and how she was able to use community resources to help....

Our summer reprises focus on the theme of advocacy at the system, community service and individual level.  This first episode released in May 2020  outlines the connection between human rights and dementia, with particular attention to the impact of COVID-19 on long-term care. Mario is a dementia activist who is a co-creator of a Canadian Charter of Rights for Canadians with Dementia for the Alzhe...

John and Cindy McCaffrey's motto is  “Have a good day, every day”. In this episode of our Young Onset Dementia series, guest host, Kathy Hickman of the brainXchange and Alzheimer Society of Ontario talks with them about their experiences of living with and caring for someone with young-onset dementia, how they have built a sense of community and continue to maintain a positive attitude by living i...

Nos invités pour cet épisode sont Véronique Legault et Pierre Roisné, respectivement Directrice générale du Regroupement des ainés de la Nouvelle-Écosse et Directeur général du Réseau santé Nouvelle-Écosse. Véronique et Pierre collaborent depuis quelques années sur Villages culturels, un projet dont le but principal est d’identifier des méthodes, des approches et des activités culturelles qui pour...

Notre invitée pour ce troisième épisode est Claire Giallonardo. Claire est native de Timmins, dans le nord de l’Ontario et habite maintenant dans la région de Peel. En 2014, alors qu’elle avait à peine 55 ans, Claire a reçu un diagnostic de Parkinson. À la suite de ce diagnostic, Claire a dû repenser à son avenir et faire d’autres projets de vie; une période très difficile qu’elle qualifie de « tr...

Jill Czuczman a care partner to her husband David, living with Frontotemporal Dementia talks about some of the unique challenges associated with young-onset dementia from the long road to getting a diagnosis, to leaving the workforce early, the lack of understanding and stigma, to the struggles to find supports that meet the unique needs of those living with or caring for someone with dementia in...

A Toronto-based mental health clinician and artist specializing in aging, older age, and dementia, Aynsley Moorhouse elaborates on how the fundamental principles of theatre improv, such as saying “yes, and”, are also central to caregiving and communicating with people living with dementia. Improv teaches care partners about living in the now and supporting one’s partner by making them “look good”....

Marie-Reine et André sont tous deux natifs du Caire, en Égypte. Ils ont émigré au Canada en 1970 et habitent dans la région d’Ottawa. C’est là qu’ils ont fait leur carrière et élevé leur famille. Il y a environ trois ans, André a été diagnostiqué avec la maladie à corps de Lewy, une forme de trouble neurocognitif qui partage de nombreuses similitudes avec la maladie de Parkinson. Lors de notre ren...

Jillian McConnell, our guest host, speaks with the Dineen children: Justin, Rebecca, and Peter who were just 12, 10, and 8 at the time of their mom’s diagnosis (9 years ago), about their experiences as younger children learning about their mother’s bvFTD diagnosis and now as teenagers / young adults. They discuss the unique challenges they faced and offer perspectives and strategies that continue...

Our Young Onset series begins with a conversation between Matt Dineen, a father of three and husband from Ottawa, Ontario and Jillian McConnell, guest host and Knowledge Mobilization lead with brainXchange.  Nine years ago, Matt's wife Lisa was diagnosed with Behavioural variant Fronto-temporal dementia (bvFTD) at the age of 43.   Matt and Jillian discuss what his experience has been like includin...

Dans cet épisode, nous discutons avec Diane Dumaresq et Geneviève Arsenault-Lapierre. Diane a été proche aidante auprès de son mari Guy, décédé de la maladie d’Alzheimer en mars 2021. Leur dernière année ensemble a été marquée par la pandémie et les mesures sanitaires. Geneviève, quant à elle, est chercheure auprès de l’équipe pancanadienne de Recherche en organisation des services sur l'Alzheimer...

Lisa Loiselle, explores the importance of the arts in the context of dementia from the lens of a personal advocate,  Rev. Dr. Cynthia Huling Hummel and a care partner, Daniel Potts. Cynthia started having memory problems at the age of 49. She did not consider herself an artist until after her diagnosis and now she is a published author, artist, and fierce Alzheimer’s advocate. Cynthia talks about...

Guests Mike Belleville and Mary Fridley speak about Reimagining Dementia: A Creative Coalition for Justice . Mary, a longtime community activist recognized how COVID disproportionately affected people living with dementia and saw an opportunity for action and change. She brought together advocates from the arts community who had a similar mindset for social change and thought out of the box creati...

Happy Holidays and thanks to all of our listeners, contributors, and supporters.  We have assembled 3 series to help you celebrate this season - Ars, Spirituality, and Women & Dementia. Check out our website.  We look forward to bringing you many interesting and innovative episodes in Season 4. 

Simon Law is an award-winning songwriter, producer, and performer with two Grammy awards. Not only is music a large part of Simon’s life, but it was also an important piece of his father’s life even after he was diagnosed with dementia. Simon’s father appreciated music and especially loved the sounds of the Caribbean. Simon and his father were able to stay connected through the music they enjoyed....

Rachel Bar, the Director of Research and Health and TCAS Postdoctoral Fellow at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto speaks with Lisa Loiselle about dance and movement for those living with dementia. Rachel speaks about her lifelong involvement in dance and as a professional ballet dancer, and how that took her down an academic path researching how dance affects the brain. That subsequently...

In this new episode of our Arts & Dementia series, Lisa Loiselle and special co-host Cynthia Huling Hummel, speak with couple Lynda Everman and Don Wendorf about the importance of the expressive arts in self-care. Don describes expressive arts are esthetic or artsy that have the power to prompt emotions, to allow for an expression of emotions or an emotional reaction, to prompt memories and associ...

We want to hear from listeners, guest interviewees, partners, and others about their experience of our podcast and gather feedback on how we can improve. Groups will be held virtually over Zoom. Participants will receive sample episodes to listen to in advance. The groups will take approximately 1 hour and will be recorded but privacy is assured. We are hoping to begin these in early to mid-Novemb...

Arne Stinchcombe chats with researchers doing work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2+) persons with dementia and carers. Jason Flatt is an Assistant Professor in the Social and Behavioral Health Program at the University of Nevada (Las Vegas) School of Public Health. Jason discusses how he got involved in dementia research and some of the concerns of 2SLGBTQI+...

This episode is the first in an 8-part series on the arts features a discussion on how the arts (in any form) can create a sense of community and belonging and builds relationships amongst participants. Host Lisa Loiselle talks with Lisa Meschino who has seen this first-hand during her work developing programs such as Gather at the Gallery and as an artist at the Dotsa Bitove Wellness Academy.  Li...

Mary  Beth Wighton and Lisa Poole, co-chair the Dementia Advocacy Canada (DAC) our the leading advocacy organization of people with lived experience of dementia. In this episode, they talk about DACs efforts to strengthen our National Dementia Strategy especially in a meeting they had on June 8 2021 with then Minister of Health, Paddy Hadju.  13 DAC members discussed challenges in implementing the...

      In our podcast, a frequent message is the importance of people with dementia remaining active and involved with others. This is often easier said than done because of restricted options that people often experience or perceive. The Dementia Inclusive Choices for Exercise (DICE) project enables communities to be more inclusive so that people with dementia have more opportunities to be active....