Translating research to practice: reablement and rehabilitation for people with dementia (November 19, 2024)

Presented by: Claire O'Connor  

There are currently more than 733,040 people living with dementia in Canada, with projections this will increase to nearly 1 million people by 2030 (Alzheimer Society of Canada, 2024). The World Health Organization (2023) highlights that reablement and rehabilitation for people with dementia are essential to support maximized independence and functioning for as long as possible. Yet, these services are often not offered in standard dementia care. This webinar will provide an overview of the presenter's work to translate the research evidence around reablement in dementia into practice so that people living in dementia in the community may have better access to these service in the real-world. First, an overview of reablement for people with dementia will be presented. Next, a suite of open access resources designed to support the design, delivery, and evaluation of reablement programs for people living with dementia will be introduced. Finally, ongoing work into how these resources can be implemented within the existing community services for older adults will be described. 

After taking part in this webinar, participants will be able to: 

1. Understand the potential to apply their existing occupational therapy skills to effectively use the open access resources to design evidence-informed reablement programs to support functioning in their clients with dementia.
2. Understand the potential to apply a holistic and collaborative approach to goal setting and reablement program evaluation for their clients with dementia, using the open access assessment guide.

Level  Beginner (0-2 years of experience in this specific practice area)

Area of practice Caregiver/Family Education, Cognition, Dementia, Generalist, Health Promotion & Wellness, Home Assessment & Modification, Independent Living & Housing, Neurology, Older Adults, Research 

Client age group Older adults (65+ years old)