Baycrest

10 BrainMatters FALL/WINTER 2019 BREAKING down Canada's first national dementia strategy T o tackle the public health crisis of dementia, the Canadian government released its first, long-awaited, national dementia strategy, A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire, earlier this summer. The strategy, which was developed through rigorous consultations over the last two years, focuses on three national objectives: • Prevent dementia • Advance therapies and find a cure • Improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and their caregivers "This strategy, when effectively implemented, has the ability to make a real difference in the lives of Canadians living with dementia, and their families and caregivers," says Dr. William Reichman, Baycrest President and CEO, and co-chair of the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia, a group established by the Minister of Health to provide input on the strategy. "It also reaffirms the need for an ongoing commitment to research that will lead to new and much- needed innovative solutions that improve the ways in which we prevent, diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias." More than half a million Canadians currently live with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada. In less than 15 years, the number of Canadians living with dementia will nearly double to 937,000. PREVENTING DEMENTIA "There are at least 20 prevention strategies currently available that have the potential to slow cognitive decline and prevent various forms of dementia," says Dr. Howard Chertkow, senior scientist and Chair in Cognitive Neurology and Innovation at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute (RRI). The expected launch of Baycrest's Kimel Family Centre for Brain Health and Wellness, led by Dr. Chertkow, aims to provide older adults in the community access to evidence-based interventions that will have a measurable impact on their brain health and wellness. "The centre's one-of-a-kind environment will allow clinicians and researchers to closely track the effectiveness of prevention regimens and bring us closer to answering how we could prevent the onset of dementia and cognitive loss," says Dr. Chertkow, who is also the scientific director of Canada's largest national dementia research initiative, the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), and a member of the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia. Dr. William Reichman "This strategy, when effectively implemented, has the ability to make a real difference in the lives of Canadians..." Dr. Howard Chertkow

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