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IncludeMe™
A starting point for Dementia caregivers Iris the Dragon is a registered Canadian charity that develops innovative mental health tools and resources. The charity offers expert-informed storybooks and games for kids and programs for adults. Iris has earned over 4.5 million readers globally.
Dementia cases in Canada are forecasted to rise dramatically. The Public Health Agency of Canada is keen to get supports in place now to mitigate the expected impact on families who shoulder caregiving. The Agency funded Iris and Addiev's proposed innovation. |
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Preparing caregivers to support persons living with dementia
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The mission was to design a program and measure if adults felt prepared and confident to begin looking after a person living with dementia (PLWD). It was important to lower the sense of overwhelm that follows a diagnoses of dementia and normalize feelings. The program would need to be well perceived and received by diverse communities of interest in the pilot program region in rural Ontario.
We convened a group of 12 stakeholders to inform us of needs, current knowledge, barriers and issues, and program design features. We implement all 62 recommendations into the program's design. |
Challenge: Produce & launch a national health education program
The challenge is that all information pertaining to dementia is important and we want caregivers to have access to all of it. The reality is that, following a diagnosis of dementia, caregivers feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Our job was to distill exactly what they needed to know at the outset to kickstart a circle of care for the person diagnosed. Caregivers were also keen to be able to navigate directly to information, resources, and actions that they needed immediately instead of having to go through an entire program. Those who support caregivers sought the same thing but also to have a print-friendly version to work with. Here's what we acheived:
A GBA+ report summarizing the approach, results, and lessons learned in consulting with stakeholders on program content and design.
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IncludeMe™, an eLearning program & workbook covering dementia, the healthcare system, creating a circle of care and action plan; and self-care.
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A printable PDF version for alternate delivery by facilitators at the Alzheimer Society who work with families and their PLWD in person.
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An Iris-branded, Learning Management System (LMS) enabling free, public access to the IncludeMe™ program and optional health survey.
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