Dementia

I do not deal with chronic disease in my area of work, however, I am interested in learning more about dementia. There does not seem to be a lot of health promotion/education work being done on this subject compared to other chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Here is what I have learned about dementia care in the province of Ontario so far. 

     It is estimated that 250,000 of Ontario’s seniors will be living with dementia by 2020. In 2015 the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) recommended that the government develop a strategy to support dementia patients to live in their homes by providing timely access to medical care and community support services (OMA n.d.).

     In 2017, Dr. Eric Hoskins, the Minister of Health and Long Term Care in Ontario at the time, developed Ontario’s dementia strategy. Unfortunately this strategy never got off the ground due to the change in government. The websites with information on the strategy are now archived (Ontario.ca, n.d.).  There does not seem to be any clear action to address dementia by the current government except for the work being done by Health Quality Ontario.

     Health Quality Ontario (HQO) is the provincial lead on quality health care. It is governed by a 12-member board consisting of doctors, nurses and other front line health care professionals that are appointed by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. The goal of HQO is to support front line health care providers and the government in improving health care. Health Quality Ontario has 20 quality standards in place (“About Us - Health Quality Ontario (HQO),” n.d.). Two of the standards that HQO has finalized address dementia:

     1) Behavioural Symptoms of Dementia - this quality standard focuses on the behaviours of aggression and agitation in      people in emergency rooms, under hospital care or living in long term care. It also focuses on the transition from one of these settings to another (“Behavioural Symptoms of Dementia” -HQO, n.d.).

     2) Dementia - this quality standard focuses on those living with dementia in the community. It addresses supports provided by the frontline such as primary care, home care and specialist care (Dementia: Care for People Living in the Community, HQO, n.d.).

Both of these quality standards are intended to:

• Support patients and caregivers by educating them on what to ask for when accessing care

• Support health care professionals by offering evidence based recommendations on what they should be offering patients

• Support improvements to care through measuring and analyzing performance (Dementia: Care for People Living in the Community, n.d.)

Many individuals living with dementia live in their home with care provided by family members. Providing care without support can be overwhelming and lead to burnout. The current Ontario Government needs to put financial support behind these standards to address not only the needs of the dementia patient but also the caregiver.

References

About Us - Health Quality Ontario (HQO). (n.d.). Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.hqontario.ca/About-Us

Behavioural Symptoms of Dementia - Health Quality Ontario (HQO). (n.d.). Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.hqontario.ca/evidence-to-improve-care/quality-standards/view-all-quality-standards/behavioural-symptoms-of-dementia

Dementia Care for People Living in the Community.pdf. – Health Quality Ontario (HQO)  Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://www.hqontario.ca/portals/0/documents/evidence/quality-standards/qs-dementia-clinician-guide-en.pdf

Developing Ontario’s Dementia Strategy: Discussion Paper | Ontario.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.ontario.ca/page/developing-ontarios-dementia-strategy-discussion-paper

Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Dementia, Ontario’s Doctors: Putting Ontario’s patients first. (n.d.). Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://www.ontariosdoctors.com/dementia/