Hello, Friend!

We hope this newsletter finds you well. If you have questions about programs and services, please call 519-332-4444.

We also invite you to keep checking the online portal to learn about upcoming online events and programs.

Happy reading!

In this edition:

1. What's happening in Sarnia-Lambton? Local events, social recreation programs, webinars, and more!
2. What’s happening across Ontario? Provincial social recreation programs, webinars, and more!
3. Join the Quest for Kindness and make Kind-nections this January!
4. This Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, let us be your First Link^®
5. The Dementia Friendly Canada Project has launched!
6. Tips on Creating Resolutions for the New Year!

What’s happening in Sarnia-Lambton? Local events, social recreation programs, webinars, and more!

January is Alzheimer’s Awareness month

3 out of 5 people living with dementia will go missing at some point, a frightening experience, and a dangerous one. That’s why the Alzheimer Society of Sarnia-Lambton is partnering with The Sarnia Police Services and OPP to provide an opportunity for individuals living with dementia to be registered as someone at risk of going missing.

Critical information shared provides searchers with quick access to key information to assist in locating and returning the individual home safely.

Registration is easy!

Simply call Alzheimer Society Sarnia-Lambton at 519 332 4444 to learn how.

Let’s all do our part to help individuals with dementia live safely in our community.

Caregiver resolutions

Start by first telling yourself that “I give myself permission to not keep the following resolutions or to keep them only partway” and “I give myself permission to not be perfect”

• I will not try to maintain the impossible
• I will be realistic about the illness
• I will consider what can realistically change
• I will ask for help from others & share the load
• I will support myself like I am my own friend
• I will accept help from others
• I will ask for help from others
• I will understand that I may not feel in control
• I will look for humour in joy when I can
• I will take care of myself too

Day Program Happenings

This month, we are thanking our partners West Lambton Community Health Center, Sarnia Library, Alix Art Gallery, and Lambton heritage Museum for their continuous commitment to the program and for allowing us to provide opportunities for unique and meaningful Interaction. This year, Home Instead generously donated Christmas Gifts for all of our Day Program participants.

One-on-One Activities, Tips, & Tools

Snowy Kiss Cookie Recipe

Make these delicious cookies on those cold, snowy, January days and enjoy with a mug of hot chocolate!

Click on the image above and print the recipe.

What-a-Gem Holiday Cards

In Zero Difference, roll the dice and then start subtracting until you get to exactly zero. Click on the image above and print the complete activity.

What's happening across Ontario? Provincial social recreation programs, webinars, and more!

CARERS Program for Adult Children

When: Thursdays starting on February 3 from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM

This 8-week online program is for adult children of people with mid- to late-stage dementia living in the community. Developed by the Reitman Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital, CARERS is a comprehensive dementia care program that supports problem-solving skill development and introduces the innovative use of standardized patients actors trained to simulate real-life situations so that caregivers, guided by expert clinical coaches, will learn how to address communication challenges.

For more information, contact Katie MacLean at kmaclean@alz.to or to register, click here.

Virtual Art Talks with Art Gallery Ontario (AGO)

When: Monthly on TUESDAYS — January 18, February 15, March 15, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

The AGO is offering engaging small group virtual art talks helping to explore their collection through conversation, exchanging ideas and observations about the selected artworks. This is a one-hour virtual art talk hosted on Zoom. The program is designed for people living with dementia and their caregivers. The art talk is facilitated by an experienced AGO Art Educator and is supported by Alzheimer Society of Toronto’s volunteers.

Select Virtual Art Talks on January 18 on the AST Calendar here.

For more information, contact Katie Berkelmans, Recreation and Volunteer Programs Manager, at kberkelmans@alz.to

Join the Quest for Kindness and make Kind-nections this January

The Quest for kindness is here and it’s time to spread kindness and cheer!

This event is the perfect opportunity to come together with participants from across Ontario to help make your community a kinder place for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia by making at least 30 kind-nections by completing a series of acts of kindness in the Kindness Centre.

Throughout the month, help us fundraise to reach our goal of $1 million to support crucial programs and services offered by local Alzheimer Societies across Ontario! Want a way to show your kindness? Order our locally printed Kind-nections Tee.

Haven’t registered yet? What are you waiting for?! Register here.

On January 29, the final day of the Quest for Kindness, be sure to catch the Toronto Sign, the CN Tower and Niagara Falls light up in blue and white in to mark the end of the Quest for Kindness as well as to honour Alzheimer’s Awareness Month! Can’t make it in person? Watch the CN Tower light show online here beginning at sunset and the Niagara Falls light up here beginning at 10:00 PM (EST).

This Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, let us be your First Link^®

At the Alzheimer Society, we continuously strive to educate and support those who suspect that they may have dementia, been recently diagnosed with, or are currently living with dementia. We want to ensure that their needs are met early and throughout their lives living with dementia.

With more than half a million Canadians living with dementia today, a number expected to reach a million in less than 10 years, it is imperative that we educate our society while working to fight the stigma surrounding dementia. It’s also time for care partners to understand they are not alone.

The Alzheimer Society’s First Link^® program serves almost a quarter of people with a dementia diagnosis in Canada and we want to see that number grow. This Alzheimer’s Awareness month, we will continue to campaign and motivate those diagnosed with the disease to make the Alzheimer Society their First Link^®!

Find out more about what the Alzheimer Society and First Link ^® can do for people recently diagnosed with dementia by visiting firstlinkontario.ca.

The Dementia Friendly Canada Project has Launched!

We are pleased to share an exciting new initiative from the Dementia-Friendly Canada project!

One of the project’s goals is to train Canada’s workforce to be dementia friendly, and one way we are doing this is by developing free tools and resources in order to give Canadian’s knowledge and confidence when it comes to supporting and including people affected by dementia. We are pleased to announce our Building Dementia-Friendly Communities course.

The course will provide a foundational knowledge of dementia, and outline the considerations that organizations can include in their social and physical environments in order to better support and include people living with dementia. The information is practical and can be applied to people from all levels of the organization from customer-facing staff, to management, and to key decision makers.

The course consists of the following four modules, and are tailored to each of the three sectors:

• What is a dementia-friendly community? An introduction to the concept and dementia friendly efforts at the community level.
• Dementia-friendly interactions: Social environment considerations, such as ways you can communicate effectively with someone living with dementia.
• Dementia-friendly spaces: Physical environment considerations, such as ways you can optimize your space to be dementia-friendly.
• Dementia-friendly policies, practices and services for organizations: Provides specific scenarios and recommendations.

This training makes it possible for local individuals, businesses, and organizations to make a real and important difference for the people affected by dementia that they interact with on a daily basis. To register for the course, click here.

If you have questions about these courses or the Dementia-Friendly Canada project please contact Heather Cowie, National Project Manager at hcowie@alzheimerbc.org.

Tips on Creating Resolutions for the New Year!

Start the new year off right by creating resolutions for 2022! It’s the perfect opportunity whether you’re a person living with dementia, a care partner, or a family member to help you learn, grown and enrich your life in a positive way.

If you’re a person living with dementia, we have put together a few resolutions that you can adopt for 2022 that could help you stay happy, healthy, and fulfilled throughout the year.

1. Keep physically and mentally active. Take up a new hobby like drawing, puzzles, or even simple exercises and stretching once a day.
2. Reflect on your days by keeping a diary or journal that will help you recount the events of the day and how you were feeling.
3. Stay social! Set up a weekly or monthly phone call with friends and family to stay engaged.

If these don’t work for you, try to create your own! Do whatever is most important to you.

People living with Alzheimer’s and dementia are especially vulnerable at this time, if you are able to, please consider supporting the essential services and programs that benefit this community.