Champlain Dementia Network Officially Launches Public Awareness Campaign On Caregiver Resilience

The Champlain Dementia Network is pleased to announce the official launch of our 2019 public awareness and social media campaign designed to build resilience and wellness in caregivers.  Life as a caregiver for a person with dementia can get overwhelming especially without adequate support.  The right support at the right time builds up caregiver reserves so they’re prepared when the dementia journey becomes chaotic and challenging.  Without good support, caregiver stress, anxiety, and depression can increase.   

Resilience is the ability to adapt well to significant stress, threats, trauma, tragedy – such as illness, family or work problems, financial concerns, dying or the death of someone close to you. Resilience allows you to face adversity and ‘bounce back’ to your previous state, or even ‘bounce forward’ by incorporating new experiences, growing, and being better positioned for positive outcomes in the future.

The CDN recognizes that caregivers are crucially important in supporting people living with dementia to stay well, and that we, in turn, need to ensure we’re supporting caregivers to stay well too.

The caregiver resilience and wellness resources developed by the CDN are designed to provide caregivers with practical tips, information sheets, and local program information. 

These resources can be found online through the following link:  http://rethinkdementia.ca/#caregiving

“We know that family caregivers are essential in supporting people living with dementia, and they often put other’s needs before their own – with this campaign, we want  them know they’re not alone and it’s important that they are supported too.” Sheila Bauer, CDN Co-Chair and CEO of The Dementia Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County

Rethink Dementia is a project of the Champlain Dementia Network, funded by the Champlain Local Health Integration Network. It’s a multi-year public education and awareness campaign which is laying the groundwork for dementia-friendly communities. The focus of this year’s campaign is timely, as the incidence of dementia in our community grows.

The Champlain Dementia Network’s membership is representative of caregivers, people living with dementia, leaders from community, hospital, and long-term care involved in the provision of dementia care across our region, together with universities and colleges.

For more information or to arrange an interview with CDN members, contact our Co-Chairs:

Sheila Bauer, Executive Director, Dementia Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County

smbauer@dsorc.org

Kelly Milne, Director, Regional Geriatric Program of Eastern Ontario

kmilne@toh.ca