Dementia Education Program Newsletter
Please note that as of January 2024, the McGill Cares webcasts will take place once a month.
We invite you to view recordings of past episodes at your convenience. These webcasts are also available as audio podcasts on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and PocketCasts, among others.
Upcoming Webcasts
Join us on May 15 at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, 30-minute interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.
The Caregiver Grief Connexion Project
Pam Orzeck, MSW, PhD, is Associate Professor in the McGill School of Social Work and part of the coordination team at the Caregiver Grief Connexion project. Her latest research focuses on women's bereavement experiences after caregiving. She has published several articles and co-edited a book on professional interventions with caregivers.
Zelda Freitas, BA, BSW, MSW, is Adjunct Professor at the McGill School of Social Work and part of the coordination team of the Caregiver Grief Connexion project. Ms Freitas’ expertise involves caregivers and caregiving, psychosocial practice, including palliative care and end-of-life care, countering adult mistreatment and older adults.
Ms. Orzeck and Ms. Freitas will speak about the Caregiver Grief Connection project, a new initiative that offers free and accessible educational resources on caregiver grief and bereavement for health and social service professionals and care providers. They will discuss their motivations for founding the project and what they hope it will achieve.
To view the webcast, click here at 12 pm EDT on May 15, when it becomes public and available.
Past Webcasts
Understanding the legal, psychosocial and medical assessments required to make decisions on behalf of another person
Stephanie Geller, MSW, is the Team Lead, Clinical Social Worker, at Lianas Senior Transition Support. She has been working with seniors for the last 25 years, helping them and their families with caregiving issues, including navigating social services, work-life balance issues, stress, anxiety, burnout and coping through major life decisions.
Anna Kamateros, Notary, TEP, is Department Head, Wills Estates and Planning at KRB Lawyers. Me Kamateros provides estate and later-life planning services that optimize wealth transfer and reduce estate conflicts. Her work with respect to estate planning, including the preparation of final wills and testaments and protection mandates, includes advising liquidators on their duties administering the estate. She is also a researcher for the Chaire de recherche Antoine-Turmel sur la protection juridique des aînés and a consultant on the multisectoral team to help counter the mistreatment of older adults. She is part of the expert committee for the Quebec Chamber of Notaries on the implementation of the law to better protect vulnerable persons.
This goal of this webcast is to provide clarity on the assessments and legal documentation required to make decisions on behalf of a person who is no longer able to make important decisions for themselves.
April 10, 2024
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Talking to children about dementia and death
Andrea Warnick, RN, MA, is a Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Nurse who supports individuals, families and communities who are grieving illness or death in their lives. She co-owns AWC Grief Support, a group practice of over 30 therapists who provide grief therapy across Ontario and grief consultation and education across Canada. Ms. Warnick developed the five-day Children's grief and bereavement certificate program at SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health Learning Institute. She also hosts Kids Grief Q&A, a free monthly webinar offered by Canadian Virtual Hospice, where she responds to questions from families and professionals from across the country about supporting grieving children and youth.
Ms. Warnick will answer questions about how to speak to children about grave illnesses and how to recognize and address grieving in children.
This English webcast is free and open to the public.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
March 6, 2024
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Caregiver support in Quebec - L’Appui pour les proches aidants
Julie Bickerstaff, MSW, is Director of Caregiver Support & Knowledge Transfer at l’Appui pour les proches aidants, a caregiver support organization. Over the past 20 years of working in the health and social services network, public health, territorial organization and community sectors, she has developed a rich and varied expertise in consultation and mobilization, social development and program management.
Ms. Bickerstaff will speak about the services offered by l’Appui pour les proches aidants that are available throughout the province of Quebec in English and French.
This English webcast is free and open to the public.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
February 7, 2024.
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Strategies to improve participation in activities for people living with dementia
Marie-Eve Bolduc, PhD, is Assistant Professor (professional) at the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University. Her research interests are directed toward brain-based disabilities, pediatric outcome research and simulation education. Using her experience as an occupational therapist, curriculum lead and simulation educator, she has been involved in developing material for the McGill Dementia Education Program since 2019.
During the pandemic, Prof. Bolduc supervised the creation of a Dementia Activity Booklet for caregivers of people living with dementia by four of her students. The booklet has been very popular and so, with her guidance, and funding from the Petro-Canada Caremakers Foundation, we have brought some of those activities to life in videos.
Prof. Bolduc will explain why continuing to participate in leisure activities and activities of daily living is important for people living with dementia and will share ideas for adapting activities to a person’s abilities. She will show some of the new dementia activity videos which we will be launching on our website.
This webcast is available in English and French.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
January 24, 2024
To view the webcast in English, click here.
To view the webcast in French, click here.
Medical aid in dying (MAiD) in the context of dementia
Jocelyn Downie is a Professor Emerita in the Faculties of Law and Medicine at Dalhousie University with a particular interest in end-of-life care. She served as Special Advisor to the Canadian Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide and was involved in several national and provincial expert panels that address end-of-life decision-making and physician-assisted dying.
Professor Downie is the author of Dying Justice: A Case for the Decriminalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada, which was awarded the Abbyann D. Lynch Medal in Bioethics from the Royal Society of Canada. She was named a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and made a member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her work advocating for high quality, end-of-life care.
Professor Downie will discuss whether, and how, people living with dementia can request Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD).
This English webcast is free and open to the public.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
December 13, 2023
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Hygiene and dementia
Lucy Barylak, MSW, is a social gerontology consultant for the CIUSSS-West-Central Montreal and a graduate of the McGill University School of Social Work, where she is also a liaison supervisor. Ms. Barylak has developed evidence-based training for seniors and caregivers, and she lectures in the field of social gerontology and knowledge transfer. She facilitates “Dear Lucy,” an online show about caregiving funded by the WellMed Foundation in the U.S. She founded and, for many years, managed the Caregiver Support Centre at the CLSC Rene-Cassin, a multi-service respite centre for family and informal caregivers. Ms. Barylak received the Queen’s Jubilee Award for her role in developing a national coalition to support caregivers across Canada.
Ms. Barylak will discuss why people living with dementia might refuse personal daily care and provide some tips for what caregivers can do when faced with those situations.
This English webcast is free and open to the public.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
November 29, 2023
To view the webcast in English, click here.
McGill Cares: Join us as we celebrate the 100th episode
McGill Cares was launched by the Dementia Education Program during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 13, 2020, while many of us were isolating at home. Claire Webster, Founder of the Program, had the idea to record short interviews with different experts on topics of interest to care partners of people living with neurocognitive disorders to help educate and support them during this difficult time.
On November 15, 2023, at 12 p.m. EST, we will air the 100th episode of McGill Cares and invite you to join us for this live recording! Dr. José Morais, Dr. Serge Gauthier, Dr. Pedro Rosa-Neto and Claire Webster will look at highlights from the past three years and answer your questions.
If you are not able to join us for this live webcast, rest assured that it will be recorded and posted on our website to view at your convenience, like all past episodes of McGill Cares. Note that this webcast will take place in English.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care. We have had over 70,000 views of our free online webcasts to date! Thank you for being an important part of our success.
November 15, 2023
To watch the webcast in English, click here.
Coping with Ambiguous Loss in Caregiving
Corrie Sirota is a clinical social worker and sessional lecturer at the McGill School of Social Work who specializes in loss, bereavement. Corrie is also a TEDx speaker, the Clinical Director at Myra's Kids Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports bereaved children and their families and the author of Someone Died...Now What? A Personal and Professional Perspective on Coping with Loss and Grief.
Ms. Sirota will speak about the types of loss triggered by a diagnosis of dementia, the varied emotions that accompany it and ways to cope with anticipatory grief.
This English webcast is free and open to the public.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
November 1, 2023
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Planning for a Transition of Care
Mr. Matt Del Vecchio is a Certified Professional Consultant on Aging (CPCA). He is the owner of Lianas Senior Transition Support, which provides families with guidance and support in navigating home care and senior living communities. Mr. Del Vecchio is also co-host of a popular weekly radio show, “Life Unrehearsed” on CJAD800 in Montreal and writes for The Suburban newspaper as their "Seniors and Aging" columnist.
There will come a point in time when one needs to consider a transition from home into a senior-living community. These decisions can be filled with emotion, guilt and anxiety. What can be done to avoid crisis mode? Mr. Del Vecchio will discuss the steps that can be taken to allow for a smooth and less stressful transition.
This English webcast is free and open to the public.
McGill Cares is supported by the Amelia Saputo Community Outreach for Dementia Care.
October 18, 2023
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Let’s Talk About Walking
Nancy Mayo, PhD, is a Distinguished James McGill Professor in the Department of Medicine and the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University. She is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, where she leads a research program on Function, Disability and Quality of Life for vulnerable populations. She is Co-Founder and CEO of PhysioBiometrics Inc., a McGill spin-off company dedicated to developing accessible wearable technologies targeting vulnerable populations so people can move better to move more.
Prof. Mayo will discuss best practices for walking in order to avoid falls as we age and explain how wearable technology can help improve gait and movement.
October 4, 2023
To view the webcast in English, click here.
Update on New Medications to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease
Serge Gauthier, MD, is a clinical neurologist specializing in the development of new tools for diagnosis and treatments for people living with Alzheimer’s disease. He is the Academic Co-Lead for the Dementia Education Program and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery and the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. Dr. Gauthier was the Director of the McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging from 1986 to 1997. His accomplishments led to him being appointed to the Order of Canada in 2014 and the National Order of Québec in 2017.
Dr. Gauthier will provide an overview of new pharmaceuticals on the market, including how they obtained Health Canada and/or FDA approval, how they work, who is eligible, side effects, availability and cost.
September 20, 2023
To view the webcast in English, click here.
To view the webcast in French, click here.
Exploring the Experience of Stress in Formal and Informal Dementia Care Partners
Zahinoor Ismail, MD, is a clinician scientist and Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Epidemiology, and Pathology at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and O’Brien Institute for Public Health at the University of Calgary. He is also Chair of the Canadian Conference on Dementia, and Chair of the Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia, which generates Canadian dementia guidelines, the most recent iteration of which were published in 2020. Dr Ismail was also recently appointed as Co-Chair of the Government of Canada Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia.
Dr. Ismail will provide a novel approach for reviewing the causes of stress in dementia care partners. He will describe an overall framework for assessing stress, provide clinical examples, and review preliminary data from formal and informal Canadian care partners.
September 6, 2023
If you have specific topics or questions that you would like us to address during our biweekly webcasts, please email us at dementia [at] mcgill.ca (subject: McGill%20Cares%20Webcast%20Series%20) .
We are grateful to the Amelia and Lino Saputo Foundation for their generous support, which will allow us
to pioneer a new standard in dementia education through the new Amelia Saputo Community
Outreach for Dementia Care initiative. Learn more.
