News

Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan:
the Vision

January 25th, 2018

What does the future hold for residents of Alberta who are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias? Alberta Health recently revealed its priorities and plans with the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan. It is a strategy paper that the government hopes will ‘result in a society that is better prepared to take steps to reduce the risk of dementia and support fellow Albertans living with dementia now and in the years to come’. In this article, the first of a three-part series, we introduce the Vision. 

Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan
Part 1: The Vision

The future today

Over the next three decades, the number of Albertans living with dementia is expected to more than triple; from 42,000 reported cases in 2016 to 155,000 within thirty years… ‘if nothing changes’.

It’s been 15 years since Alberta’s last comprehensive investigation and plan for Alzheimer Disease and other dementias. With the release of the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan, Alberta Health hopes to set a fresh course for the next generations.

The strategy is an ambitious, collaborative one, bringing together government, social and business organizations, clinical and research communities, and care providers, as well as individuals who are living with dementia, their families, and caregivers. That level of collaboration was put to work in coming up with the vision and components of the strategy and action plan.

The Vision for the future

In a news conference held in Edmonton on December 15, Alberta Minister of Health, Sarah Hoffman, stated, “Our Vision is to see a future where Albertans are committed to optimizing brain health and valuing and supporting individuals impacted by dementia from its onset through to end-of-life.”

If the plans in the report come to fruition, the short term promises some relief to the current generation of individuals living with dementia and their families, and the future promises to be inclusive, enabling and innovative.

Resources today

Existing Alberta Health resources for individuals living with dementia (and their caregivers) include community projects and longstanding commitments to the following programs: 

• Alberta First Link program that works with the Alzheimer’s Society to connect patients and caregivers with supports as soon as possible after a dementia diagnosis, along with Asant Café, an online support community
• Mental Health First Aid Seniors
• Seniors Health Strategic Clinical Network
• Health Link 811 with specially trained dementia nurses
• Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics Program (AUA)

Coming up...

In Part 2 of this of this series, Alberta’s Dementia Strategy: Brain Health for Every Age, we will explore some of the specific goals and culture-change aspirations outlined in the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan; including, the role of young people in dementia prevention.  

Links to the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan:

• The Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan (pdf, 33 pages)
• December 15 News Conference with Minister Hoffman and other key participants (Audio Recording, 32 minutes)

Photo: Front cover of the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan document  

(Quotations from the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan document are presented with 'single quotation marks')