$30 million in new donations to support seven Toronto dementia organizations

Doctors and researchers specializing in dementia care and prevention say a new $30 million donation to seven Toronto hospitals and organizations will significantly strengthen their programs.

And they argue the money comes at a critical time, as the health care system rapidly ages and needs grow.

The Slate Family Foundation, a charitable organization founded by media mogul Alan Slate, announced the large donation on Tuesday.

Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Aging at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the number of Canadians living with dementia is on the rise.

He was scheduled for 2022 Alzheimer's Society of Canada It is estimated that by 2050, there will be nearly 1.7 million people with dementia, which would represent 3.6% of the population. As of 2020, approximately 600,000 people in Canada have dementia, representing approximately 1.6% of the population.

That's why this donation will be “transformative,” he said.

“The biggest risk factor for dementia is age. The older you get, the higher your risk of developing dementia. With an ageing population, more Canadians will develop dementia in the future,” he said.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, dementia is a general term for conditions caused by brain disorders that can lead to cognitive impairments related to thinking and memory. Alzheimer's disease refers to a specific type of dementia that primarily affects memory.

Some memory loss is normal for people over 65. But to have your memory decline to the point where you can't take care of yourself is abnormal, according to society.

“This donation will really help prevent dementia, but also enable us to better support how we deliver care and how we conduct much-needed research,” Sinha said.

The funds will be distributed to seven organizations:

• Alzheimer's Society of Canada: $3 million

• Baycrest: $9.5 million

• Belmont House: $700,000

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH): $6.5 million

• Egal Canada: $3 million

• TMU National Institute on Aging: $3 million

• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre: $4.4 million

Sinha helped the foundation learn more about which organizations to donate to. He said the donations will not only help with treatment costs but also educate the public and raise awareness on how to recognise the disease. Signs of Dementia Evaluate your brain health.

Terry Smith, program director for the Slate Foundation, said the foundation decided to make the donation because dementia is a disease that many people experience in their families.

“Frankly, there isn't a lot of support out there for people with dementia and we felt if there was anything that could be done the foundation could help,” she said.

She said Toronto's educational institutions are world-class and deserve more resources.

Ottawa predicts 'significant' impact on system

Sinha said dementia prevention was a top priority for organizations that spend their money. “Too many people believe that dementia is a normal part of ageing, but that's not true,” he said.

“They don't even know that there are actually things they can do to prevent dementia from developing in the first place,” she said. Staying socially engaged, eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly can help ward off dementia, she said.

The Federal Government is developing a National Dementia Strategy. It was released in 2019.

The strategy explains that while dementia is not inevitable with age, age is a “significant risk factor” for dementia. As the country's ageing population increases, the number of people suffering from dementia will increase as a result, it says.

With no cure, dementia has a “significant” impact on the healthcare system, with healthcare costs for people with dementia being around three times higher than for people without the condition, according to the report.

Neil Vasudev, scientific director of CAMH's Brain Health Imaging Center, says he and his team are working to develop ways to identify early signs of dementia through brain scans.

Vasudev said they are investigating whether a protein called tau and other enzymes could be early indicators of Alzheimer's disease.

He said the donation CAMH receives is “critically important,” “especially as Canada continues to play a key role and lead the way.”

Vasudev said CAMH and other health care organizations continually apply for grants and government funding, but this can take years to materialize, so this donation will help immediately.

The federal government's Dementia Strategy provides $50 million over five years to the Dementia Strategic Fund, run by the Public Health Agency of Canada, to support government efforts to prevent and find cures for dementia. Dementia-focused organizations can also apply for a share of the funding.

Funding began in 2019.

Ongoing investment needed: scientists

Allison Sechler, director and chief scientist of the Center for Innovation in Aging and Brain Health at Baycrest Health Sciences, said the donation will enable immediate expansion of the program.

She said they plan to expand the service to underserved areas in Toronto and across the country in the future.

This includes giving people free Online Brain Health With hearing tests Hearing loss It's associated with an increased risk of dementia, she said.

The current health care system is not ready, she said.

CBC Toronto asked the Public Health Agency of Canada for a response to criticism that the agency does not adequately fund dementia care. In its response, the agency said: Canada's Dementia Strategy It is posted on the company's website.

In a statement, Ontario's Ministry of Health said the province will invest $120 million over the next five years in dementia care.

But the institutions conducting this research need more immediate funding, Sechler said.

“If we don't address these issues now, this situation is unsustainable,” she said, “not just because of the billions of dollars Canada will spend directly and indirectly addressing this issue, but because of the human cost.”