Conestoga’s Centre for Health Care Research & Innovation has launched free online resources designed to provide practical, accessible education for family and friend caregivers supporting people living with dementia.
Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Care Partners Education initiative includes three self-paced online learning modules that provide evidence-informed information to help caregivers feel more informed and prepared as they navigate supporting someone living with dementia.
The resources were developed using a co-design research approach that brought together family caregivers, dementia advocates and industry experts. By incorporating both professional expertise and lived experience, the initiative aims to ensure the learning reflects the realities, questions and challenges caregivers may encounter.
“Family caregivers play such an important role in supporting people living with dementia, and we wanted to make sure their experiences and perspectives were at the centre of developing these resources,” said Linda Sheiban Taucar, director of Conestoga’s Centre for Health Care Research & Innovation. “By bringing caregivers together with dementia advocates and experts, we’ve created practical, evidence-informed learning that reflects the real questions and challenges families face and can be accessed when and where they need it.”
The online format allows participants to access the resources at no cost, begin when they are ready and work through the material at their own pace.
Over the next year, researchers at the Centre for Health Care Research & Innovation will evaluate the impact and efficacy of the resources to better understand how they support caregivers and inform future dementia education.
The initiative also includes the Care Partners Education Webinar series, which provides additional opportunities for caregivers to hear from professionals and individuals with lived experience and explore topics related to supporting people living with dementia.
A French-language version of the Care Partners Education course launched in September, further expanding access to the resources.
The Care Partners Education initiative is part of the work underway through Conestoga’s Centre for Health Care Research & Innovation to advance applied research and develop practical solutions that respond to the needs of patients, caregivers, health-care providers and communities.