Dementia Dialogue dementiadialogue

In this episode, Lisa Loiselle speaks to a group of people involved in the Circle of Music, an intergenerational choir for people living with dementia, their care partner, and local high school students in Kitchener-Waterloo in Southwestern Ontario. 
 

On this episode of Dementia Dialogue, "Mind over Matter: Game Changer" we speak with Caroline Cameron, host of Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey on Sportsnet. Caroline shares her experience and connection to her grandmother, who lived with dementia, why she feels it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and why it is never too early to start caring, as well as some insight to what routines she does to reduce her risk of developing the disease.  
 
Biography for Caroline Cameron: 
Caroline Cameron is a Canadian television sportscaster known for her role as host of Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey on Sportsnet. Caroline also hosts the pre-game program Hockey Central and is a rink-side reporter for Hockey Night in Canada. 
Inspired by her late Grandma Shirley who lived with vascular dementia, Caroline has been involved in dementia advocacy work for many years, volunteering in seniors’ homes and participating in education and awareness campaigns. 
In 2015, she supported the Alzheimer Society of Canada’s Dementia Friends Canada initiative, and in January 2024, she was an ambassador for the Alzheimer Society of Ontario’s January Awareness Campaign. 
Read Caroline’s full story here. https://alzheimer.ca/on/en/whats-happening/news/carolines-story 
 
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In this episode of Dementia Dialogue titled, ‘It Started with Oma,’ the second in a series of conversations about Intergenerational Engagement, host, Lisa Loiselle speaks with Matthew Vorstermans and Ann-Marie Kungl.
 
Matthew lives in Creemore, Ontario, and spends his time volunteering. For many years he has supported residents at a local nursing home, reading to children at the public library and most passionately, volunteering to support those living with dementia.
 
Matthew got involved in intergenerational activities as a young grandson whose Oma was living with dementia in another country. Since then he has been a passionate volunteer for the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County. This May he will be volunteering for the 18th straight year as a participant in the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s.
 
Ann-Marie Kungl has witnessed Matthew’s passion and commitment to supporting those living with dementia since she became the CEO of the Alzheimer’s Society of Simcoe County. Ann-Marie speaks about the importance of intergenerational connection, programs being offered by Simcoe County and of course the upcoming Walk.
 

In this episode, the first in a new series on Dying and Dementia, guest host Jillian McConnell, Knowledge Translation Specialist with the brainXchange, sits down with Anne Marie Stoneburgh a Death Doula. Many people avoid this topic in our death-averse society and yet we are all “living while we are dying”. Annie explains what a Death Doula, or End-of-Life Care Facilitator is and the role they might play in supporting individuals and families through the dying process. The stories she shares highlight the importance of having conversations early and often about dying. By talking about our wishes with the people in our lives we can demystify dying and support death experiences that honour those wishes.

We continue our series on Dying and Dementia, with Ron Posno. Ron lives with Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular dementia. He shares his experience of living with dementia, why he thinks having conversations about our own death is important and what this means for him as someone living with dementia. Ron has been an advocate of access to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for people living with dementia. We talk about what a highly personal decision this is and why, for Ron, his wish is to access MAID when his disease progresses, if it is available to him.  

In the third and final podcast of our series on Dying and Dementia, we met with Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller, MSW, PhD., author of Talking About Death Won’t Kill You.  Kathy is an associate professor in the School of Social Work and the Director of the Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada. She is the Lakehead University Research Chair on Aging and End of Life and is committed to improving the care provided at the bedside and in the community. She has a passion for palliative care and improving end-of-life care for all.  During this episode, we discuss the importance of having end-of-life conversations, death literacy, and what to consider when planning for end-of-life.