Managing dementia at home: the Ontario Programs for Sustaining family caregivers

4. Mental health and addictions

  • Release date: 
    • This webinar will be available for a limited time after the conference- don't miss it on Wednesday October 12th during the conference!
  • Style: On-demand Webcast
  • Focus: Balance between both (e.g. Presentation of a best-practice guideline that combines research evidence, policy issues and practical steps for implementation)
  • Target Audience: Leadership, Clinical providers

Learning Objectives

  • Understand nature of emotional burden and resulting, psychiatric and physical vulnerabilities of family caregiver
  • Learn practical office-based, effective methods of identifying caregivers ,  risk of impaired coping and decompensation (the D-CIG)
  • Learn and understand key components of an effective model of interventions for family caregivers (the CARERS model)
  • Learn method of successful community program scaling and accessibility models (The Ontario Enhancing Care for Ontario Care Partners Program)
  • Learn where and how to access care for family caregivers 

Summary/Abstract
This presentation describes the highly innovative Ontario Enhancing Care for Ontario Care Partners (EC) Program, a unique intervention which is led by the Reitman Centre for Alzheimer’s Support and Training at Sinai Health Toronto. EC is designed to sustain family caregivers (CGs) in managing dementia at home and is scaled to serve CGs throughout Ontario. EC is unique in employing manualized methods of intervention (CARERS) the effectiveness of which are well-researched and published, innovative training of clinician leaders and a model of scaling to reach large numbers of CGs. A network of 12 community partner sites and 26 delivery locations together with extensive online resources ensures accessibility across Ontario. All interventions are designed for both virtual and in-person modes of delivery. The program rationale is based on research data that CGs, especially women, are the hidden second patients in dementia care. The current scope of dementia care needs in the community and the unique role and needs of family caregivers (CGs) will be reviewed including the disproportionate stress-induced physical, mental and social consequences of caregiving, often poorly understood in the health system. Key evidence-based interventions of CARERS will be described and demonstrated with video excerpts, including addressing the emotional impact of dementia caregiving,  manualized therapeutic methods of innovative, therapeutic simulation-based communication training and problem solving technique. The Reitman Centre Dementia Caregiver Interview Guide (DCIG) designed to assist primary care practitioners in assessing CG risk of impairment and the scope and location of programs and methods of accessing Ontario services will be described. 
 

Presenters

  • Joel Sadavoy, MD, FRCP, Founder of Geriatric Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry, Medical Director Reitman and EC programs, Reitman Centre Sinai Health and University of Toronto
  • Rhonda Feldman     PhD,  Clinician Reitman Centre     Reitman Centre Sinai Health

    

Authors

  • Joel Sadavoy MD, Medical Director Reitman and EC programs 
  • Cheryl Miller Manager EC community programs 
  • Rhonda Feldman PhD clinician Reitman Centre 
  • Gita Lakhanpal Educator and clinician Reitman Centre