{"id":79230,"date":"2022-01-28T18:02:36","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T23:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=79230"},"modified":"2022-01-30T18:02:57","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T23:02:57","slug":"campaign-to-raise-money-for-alzheimers-awareness-month-comes-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/campaign-to-raise-money-for-alzheimers-awareness-month-comes-to-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign to raise money for Alzheimer’s Awareness Month comes to an end"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Alzheimer Society of Ontario is encouraging random acts of kindness in a campaign to raise money for Alzheimer\u2019s research.<\/span><\/p>\n

January is Alzheimer\u2019s Awareness month, and the <\/span>Alzheimer Society<\/span><\/a> is about to wrap up their Quest for Kindness<\/a> campaign, which sought to raise one-million dollars for Alzheimer\u2019s research. The campaign challenged residents to make <\/span>30 \u201ckind-nections\u201d<\/span><\/a>, or acts of kindness, throughout the month of January.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the beginning of the campaign, the <\/span>Alzheimer Society has raised<\/span> almost $226,000 from over 2,300 acts of kindness from residents across Ontario and the East Coast.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colleen Hill, executive director of the Alzheimer Society\u2019s Ottawa chapter, says that dementia research is \u201cseverely underfunded\u201d in healthcare.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so the first step is awareness,\u201d says Hill. \u201cAnd people also need to know about the Alzheimer Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County, and understand the warning signs, and that they can turn to us at any time for help - connections matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/span>, the most common form of dementia, is a <\/span>neurodegenerative disorder<\/span><\/a> which causes both long and short-term memory loss, confusion and loss of cognitive function, and changes in a person\u2019s regular behaviour or mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although around 40 per cent of people over the age of 65 experience age-associated memory loss, through natural causes, Alzheimer\u2019s and other forms of dementia are not considered part of the <\/span>natural aging process<\/span><\/a>. In fact, although the majority of people living with dementia are over the age of 65, some people in their 40s and 50s can be diagnosed with <\/span>young onset dementia<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are <\/span>nearly half a million people<\/span><\/a> in Canada living with some form of dementia. According to <\/span>Ottawa Public Health<\/span><\/a>, there are 78,600 new cases of dementia diagnosed in people over the age of 65 every year in Canada.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ottawa Public Health also estimates that, on average, family and friends of a person with dementia spend around 26 hours a week caring for that person. Hill says this is commonplace, and the stress can weigh heavily on caregivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, every family is different,\u201d says Hill. \u201cBut as a caregiver, many find it challenging to work and care for their loved ones. So they may have to take time off work, there are added expenses to have help, and the financial costs can add up. Many caregivers have a difficult time sleeping, because their loved one wanders in the night. It can affect families very differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Alzheimer Society of Ottawa offers services to people living with dementia, and their families. As part of a larger, province-wide organization, the Ottawa branch contributes to dementia <\/span>research, education, and awareness<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>First Link<\/span><\/a> program connects newly diagnosed patients and their families with resources to help them make better informed choices for their treatment and care.<\/span><\/p>\n

They also offer programs catered to maintaining good physical and mental health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Minds In Motion<\/span><\/a> is a community-based social program that helps people with dementia to get involved in physical activities, while socializing with others from the dementia community. Additionally, <\/span>The Music Project<\/span><\/a> allows patients to engage with their favourite songs and create their \u201clife soundtrack\u201d using provided MP3 players.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill says the money raised through the Quest for Kindness campaign will aid research efforts, but it will also help fund programming at the Alzheimer Society.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo you are helping people receive the support they need now, and also to fund researchers through the Alzheimer Society research program,\u201d says Hill. \u201cAnd research moves us forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill says bringing Alzheimer's awareness to the forefront of healthcare discussions is crucial to finding \u201clife altering treatments, better care and cures\u201d for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill says that although the Quest for Kindness campaign only lasts until the end of this month, people can donate, volunteer, and participate in dementia awareness year-round.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on how to get involved, visit the Alzheimer Society of Ottawa online <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to the CHUO story below:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Alzheimer Society of Ontario is encouraging random acts of kindness in a campaign to raise money for Alzheimer\u2019s research. January is Alzheimer\u2019s Awareness month, and the Alzheimer Society is about to wrap up their Quest for Kindness campaign, which sought to raise one-million dollars for Alzheimer\u2019s research. The campaign challenged residents to make 30…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":79238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,221,223],"tags":[12219,6106,12215,12214,12216,12221,12222,12213,1046,12220,1107,12218,12217],"radio":[1290],"origine":[267,269,1571],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79230"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=79230"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=79230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}