This year’s Federated Health Charities campaign runs from April 3, 2023, to June 30, 2023. During the campaign, we will be highlighting each of our 21 charities and how they work to improve the health and well-being of people across our province.
The fourth charity we are spotlighting is the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. The Alzheimer Society of Ontario was founded in 1983 and today is the province’s leading care and research charity committed to helping people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The provincial society leads a network of 29 societies across Ontario that offer programs and services for people living with dementia.
“Alzheimer’s disease and dementias affect not just the person with dementia, but their families, communities,” said Cathy Barrick, Chief Executive Office, Alzheimer Society of Ontario. “So it’s really important to have a society like ours, to provide education and support, guidance, and how families can deal with this disease as it progresses.”
The work of the Alzheimer Society of Ontario focuses on four key areas: providing care support, information and education for people living with dementia across Ontario; funding research to find a cure; educating decision-makers about the need for improved healthcare services and qualified healthcare workers to support people with dementia; and increasing the awareness of dementia and its impact on the whole family. Through programs like First Link, that connects individuals living with dementia and their families to vital dementia education, resources, and support at the time of diagnosis or as early as possible after diagnosis, the Alzheimer Society of Ontario is often among the very first calls people make after receiving a diagnosis.
Recently, the Alzheimer Society of Ontario has also made advocating for additional community-based services and funding for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias a priority to ensure our communities are ready to support people living with dementia, their care partners and health service providers. There are currently more than 260,000 people living with dementia in Ontario, and with this number expected to double in the next 20 years, the work of the Alzheimer Society of Ontario is more important than ever.
Donors make everything we do possible
Federated Health Charities has supported the work of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario since 1986, helping to raise funds but, as importantly, to raise awareness about the programs and services the Alzheimer Society of Ontario offers so that people across the province and the country know that the Alzheimer Society is there to help, should they need them.
To learn more about Alzheimer Society of Ontario and the programs they provide, please visit Alzheimer Society of Ontario. To make a payroll pledge or donation to support Alzheimer Society of Ontario and Federated Health Charities, please visit Federated Health Charities.
