Education

Several educational programs and services are provided by the Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex to support:

Individuals and Families
Support and guidance is provided by telephone, email and in-office meetings to individuals and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. This includes providing information about dementia-related diseases, community resources, and collaborating with the Society’s Social Worker and Volunteer Coordinator, as well as community agencies, to determine how to best meet the needs of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. Guidance is also provided about ways to maintain or improve brain health.

Alzheimer Information Series

This information series is designed for professionals and volunteers working with those affected by Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, such as health care workers, volunteers working in Day Away programs, long term care facilities, hospitals and at home, health care students, and service providers.

What you will learn:

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Grade 4 Program
This program is designed to increase awareness among children about Alzheimer’s disease. It’s an hour-long interactive program that teaches Grade 4 students about the disease, as well as dispels myths and reduces the stigma that is often associated with individuals affected by this brain disease.

U-First
The U-First program is a six-hour workshop for front-line workers in healthcare and long-term care facilities and provides leading information to ensure quality care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.

Support and Education for Retirement and Long-Term Care Homes
Seminars and workshops are provided to support to health care workers, residents, and family members. Topics covered include how to keep an active mind, as well as approaches and strategies to issues such as aggression, wandering, sundowning and nutrition, communication principles, and assessment of the environment to ensure it is safe and appropriate to meet the needs of an individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

Speakers Bureau
The Society provides presentations to meet the needs of a specific group or organization that is requesting more information on any topic related to Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, and ways to promote brain health.

Aging Simulation Workshop

The Aging Simulation Workshop is an interactive approach to adult learning. Staff working for long-term care facilities or retirement homes are transformed into "residents" by participating in an aging simulation exercise. By donning props, staff transform from their current age, to elderly, facing all the challenges that those living with age related changes and disease related changes commonly face. As they deal with their new "abilities," we take on the role of "staff".

As part of the exercise, staff must complete activities while contending with physical limitations, medical interruptions, background noises and a variety of behaviours on our part as staff. After the simulation we debrief the group and deconstruct the experience. The discussion weaves in concepts of quality of life and quality of care. Past participants have said this simulation led directly to changes in perception of care approaches for elderly residents.

Click here for more detailed information about the Aging Simulation Workshop