Today’s youth will be tomorrow’s care partners, healthcare professionals and community advocates. By 2050, Canadians will dedicate an estimated 1.4 billion hours each year, the equivalent of 690,000 full-time jobs, to supporting people living with dementia.
Building stronger circles of care to meet those needs starts now. We must equip young people with information, resources and empathy to be dementia supporters and inclusivity advocates.
Driven by her own experience as a person living with dementia, Phyllis Fehr recognized an opportunity to help the next generation. Following her dementia diagnosis, she wanted to empower her grandchildren, Jayce and Tiana, and other young people to become dementia supporters.
“I really think it’s highly important that we teach young children about Alzheimer’s so that if their grandparents or parents develop it, they’re not afraid,” Phyllis said.
To bring her vision to life, the Youth in Action Toolkit was developed through a co-design process that included youth ages 9-16, people living with dementia, care partners, and Laura Middleton, Schlegel Research Chair in Dementia and Active Living at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA).
Traditionally, resources for dementia supporters have overlooked young people. This project fills the gap by equipping kids in grade five and up with information about dementia, strategies to help people living with dementia, and games to apply what they’ve learned.
Support for Young People, by Young People
In sharing their wishes for the toolkit, the young co-design participants said they hope it will strengthen their peers’ capacity for compassion, empathy and inclusivity.
“I hope that other kids and youth will just feel more comfortable around people with dementia and understand that they’re still the same person they were before,” said Clara, a young dementia supporter who helped create the resource.
The development of the toolkit was led by the Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP) at the RIA and the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. Funding provided by the RTOERO Foundation.