À propos de ce projet
Fondamentalement, le projet de renforcement des capacités vise à permettre aux personnes atteintes de démence de participer à la vie communautaire en tant que citoyens sociaux à part entière. Le projet développera et évaluera des moyens efficaces pour créer des opportunités durables pour les personnes vivant avec la démence et les proches aidants, de rester actifs et connectés dans leurs communautés. Des chercheurs de l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique et de l'Université Lakehead se sont associés à des organismes communautaires pour développer et évaluer des soutiens et des programmes durables qui aident à atteindre cet objectif. À Thunder Bay, l'Université Lakehead s'est associée au North West Dementia Working Group (NWDWG). À Vancouver, l'Université de la Colombie-Britannique s'est associée au Westside Seniors Hub (WSH). Ce projet est mené par et s'adresse aux personnes atteintes de démence.
Pour améliorer le bien-être des personnes atteintes de démence, le projet de renforcement des capacités développera des initiatives dans les domaines des arts, de la participation sociale, de la condition physique et des activités de bénévolat. Le projet peut également chercher à adapter les ressources actuelles (p. Ex. Bibliothèques, congrégations, programmes dans les centres communautaires ou pour personnes âgées, etc.) pour les rendre plus inclusives pour les personnes atteintes de démence. Dans l'ensemble, nous espérons soutenir la croissance d'initiatives communautaires innovantes qui favoriseront l'inclusion et réduiront la stigmatisation en créant des opportunités pour les personnes atteintes de démence de rester actives et socialement connectées.
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WHO WE ARE
UBC’s Dr. Alison Phinney and Lakehead University’s Dr. Elaine Wiersma partner with community leaders in Vancouver and Thunder Bay on the Building Capacity Project. Both sites feature a research team and coordinator paired with a “backbone” community group. The backbone group works closely with other community groups, organizations, and people with lived experience to form an interconnected web of support. In Vancouver, the Westside Seniors Hub serves as the backbone. They’re a highly committed group of volunteer professionals connecting people and organizations, spreading word about program offerings. Thunder Bay’s backbone is the North West Dementia Working Group. Comprised of passionate volunteers exclusively with lived expertise, the NWDWG is uniquely positioned to listen to, hear, and advocate for people with dementia.
The two teams distribute seed funds and nurture dementia inclusive opportunities in community. They encourage and facilitate new initiatives in their communities. Though each site launches from a different place and context, they both engage people with dementia and community organizations in different ways and act as inspiration for other communities across the country.
Launched in 2019, the Building Capacity Project was the first collaborative initiative of its kind to be set in motion under the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Dementia Community Investment Strategy. The initiative runs through to 2023 with the goal of creating a legacy of sustainable impact and positive change for people living with dementia.
The Building Capacity Project empowers people and organizations through a unique project approach. People living with dementia are united with community organizations positioned to offer engaging programs. This project helps these organizations make existing offerings more inclusive for those with lived experience, and spurs them to create new initiatives. Programs like these, then, function as stepping stones towards dementia inclusive communities on a broader level. Some of the kinds of organizations involved include: recreation centres, church groups, libraries, seniors’ centres and neighbourhood houses. The needs and concerns of people living with dementia are always at the heart of everything, as the goal is equal access for all and opportunities for active and meaningful engagement.
OUR PROCESS
COMMUNITY ACTION HIGHLIGHTS
The Westside Seniors Hub facilitates projects through several unique organizations. Examples include:
a park bench project, which maps out resting places in the community for those with dementia (Dunbar Residents’ Association)
a buddy program, providing social connection and conversation (Kitsilano Neighbourhood House)
a virtual dementia cafe offered in 2 languages (South Granville Seniors Centre)
a collaborative of outdoor walking groups, gardening clubs, and open-air arts workshops (Several teams working together)
The Northwest Dementia Working Group has supported several key initiatives. Examples include:
Dementia Café A Place to Belong, originally held at Urban Abbey, that went virtual at the onset of the pandemic
a “Living Well with Dementia” conference in Thunder Bay featuring both keynotes and panel-style discussions led by people with lived experience
presentations in Dryden, Ontario to engage those in the region
an analysis of library reading resources on dementia
VANCOUVER
THUNDER BAY
TRACKING OUR PROGRESS
The Building Capacity Project team facilitates, supports, and observes the community-led dementia inclusive programming in Vancouver and Thunder Bay. Through a developmental evaluation approach, the team is learning how to best support communities to engage people living with dementia, and move their ideas into action. By providing individually tailored support and establishing an implementation network based on its hub structure, the Vancouver team is helping its partners move forward. The Thunder Bay team is showing the benefits of a long-term process that builds from the base of the North West Dementia Working Group, established prior to the formal start of the Building Capacity Project. Together, the two teams are sharing learnings about how to create synergy between lived experience and grassroots community organizations.
IMPACT OF COVID-19
The pandemic meant the closure of many community programs this past year. But galvanized by the vision of more inclusive communities for people with dementia, both the Vancouver and Thunder Bay teams have endeavoured to pursue their goals and plans. They embraced new safety measures for in-person gatherings and climbed steep learning curves to “go virtual” and find ways of getting outside safely. Despite a few time line delays, the project is thriving– an undeniable sign of the persistence, resilience, and tenacity of its communities.
A CASE FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Dementia is a growing concern: 76,000 Canadians are diagnosed annually (a number that will increase by 68% over the next twenty years), and they are living with dementia for longer. Our healthcare system is simply not designed to meet the needs of this group.
That’s where a community approach can be a crucial and progressive part of the solution. Building capacity in communities across Canada takes pressure off healthcare services by offering a complementary array of programs that engage people living with dementia at different points along their journey. Program costs are shared across organizations, and grassroots expertise grows to include community professionals and volunteers who provide artistic, civic, social, and physical activities. People living with dementia are part of that pool of expertise, benefiting from bi-directional sharing of teachings and learnings . They gain an enhanced sense of belonging in their community through participation and contribution. They have the autonomy to choose– and be part of designing– programs and services that are personally appealing, and that have their social, cultural, and geographical context in mind. Plus, care partners feel bolstered and supported in their own neighbourhoods by people they know and see regularly at the local coffee shop, rec centre or dog park.
Building capacity in community means empowering people to build on their strengths and passions, to get involved locally in whatever way feels best, to support each other, include each other and learn from one another. People living with dementia, then, feel seen, heard, and appreciated as social and cultural contributors to society– a key to well being for us all.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Informed by research in the health and social science fields,
as well as the experiences of those living with dementia, two key principles guide the Building Capacity Project:
Social citizenship. This means full access and inclusion for people living with dementia to participate in political, social, and civic life.
Asset-based community development. This means building supports from the ground up (rather than the other way around) using strengths and capacities already in place.