Leadership Strategies for Dementia Care in Canada: A Presentation

This presentation provides an overview of dementia care practices in Canada, highlighting the increasing prevalence of Dementia and the government's strategies to address it, including the National Dementia Conference and the Advisory Board on Dementia. It discusses the challenges of transitioning from institutionalized to individualized care, such as high costs and the underutilization of state initiatives. The presentation emphasizes the role of leaders in applying quality improvement, providing patient-centered care, and employing evidence-based practices. It further explores how to develop emotional intelligence in staff to encourage person-centered care, focusing on self-awareness, motivation, and empathy. The presentation concludes by examining leadership strategies for managing care teams, including transformational leadership, collaborative leadership, and conflict management, referencing relevant research and publications.

DEMENTIA CARE
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WHAT ARE THE CURRENT PRACTICES IN CANADA OF DEMENTIA CARE
AND ARE THEY EFFECTIVE?
Canada is increasingly witnessing the growth of Dementia. According to the recent
Government statistics, more than 402,000 Canadians aged 65 and older are living with
diagnosed Dementia, two-thirds of whom being women. To help curb this, the Government
has been keen to employ the following strategies;
1.The National Dementia Conference
The law passed in 2017 by the parliament required the Minister of health to form a
National Dementia strategy. Therefore in May 2018, the conference took place in Ottawa, with
Researchers, people living with Dementia, caregivers were invited. It was formed to foresee
the collaboration between the health stakeholders and the Government to find possible
treatment for the diseases. Researchers are also brought together to share ideas and find a
solution for the same.

2. Advisory Board on Dementia
Established by the minister of health, the Advisory Board was meant to be advising the
Minister on matters concerning the health of those infected and affected by dementia, e.g., family
and caregivers.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGING CARE FROM
INSTITUTIONALIZED CARE TO INDIVIDUALIZED CARE?
• Costs and Financing
Costs incurred while providing individualized care is high, especially when the persons in
question are disabled or disabled (Gnanamanickam,2018). This is of course in addition to the
other costs for medicine, food, shelter and even clothing.
•State Initiatives
Several program initiatives have been put in place to help low-income individuals and
other caregiving families and friends (Fredriksen-Goldsen,2018). This includes tax incentives
and funding programs. However, despite their benefits, such programs have not been fully
understood, implemented and therefore resulting in very little or no success.

HOW CAN WE MEET THESE CHALLENGES
AS LEADERS?
• Apply Quality Improvement
It is necessary for a leader to appreciate the need for quality of care provided by the
facility and ensures this caters for the needs of the patient and even the community. Factors
such as Standardization and implementation of principles of basic safety measures is
necessary.
• Provide patient centered care
This entails catering for the individual needs of a patients. This is done through,
listening to, knowing and respecting the patients’ preferences. Also entails taking individual
interest with the aim of relieving pain, educating and even properly communicating with the
patient. (Jackson,2018).

• Employ evidence-based practice
Use the clinical expertise to bring together the best research and patient value so as to
achieve maximum care (Dobson D., & Dobson K., 2018). Also extensively engage in learning
and research to widen the basket of knowledge.

HOW CAN WE DEVELOP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN
OUR STAFF TO ENCOURAGE PERSON-CENTERED CARE?
According to Daniel, the following strategies can help develop Emotional Intelligence
in the workplace.
• Help them Improve their self-awareness.
This entails understanding one’s own emotions and moods and how these impact
others. This will help the staff to be able to control their behavior and at the same time not
losing a sense of their self-worth.
• Improve their motivation
Motivated workers can easily conquer disappointments and pressure and are determined
to working towards achieving the organization’s goals and for those they serve (Daniel, 2018).

• Improve their power to practice empathy
An empathetic employee has the ability to relate to and understand what those around
them feel, desire, want, need, and their viewpoints thus serving them to the best of their ability.

HOW CAN WE MANAGE A CARE TEAM WITH LEADERSHIP
STRATEGIES?
• According to Oman ( 2013), the following leadership strategies are suitable to the healthcare
sector;
• Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders use their abilities to positively influence and motivate workers who
in turn respond by giving out an outstanding performance
• Collaborative Leadership
This ensures a symbiotic relationship whereby individuals work closely together towards the
achievement of a specific goal of benefit to both parties (Shafii, 2018). Employees are also allowed
to take part in decision making hence a sense of belonging.
• Conflict Management
Most conflicts in organization arise as a result of individualistic behavior and poor
communication and this eventually results into a break down in working process. The leader might
therefore consider developing an appropriate solution to tackle conflicts.

References
Fredriksen-Goldsen, K. I., Jen, S., Bryan, A. E., & Goldsen, J. (2018). Cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s
disease, and other dementias in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults and
their caregivers: Needs and competencies. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 37(5), 545-569.
Shafii, N. A. H. N., Yaacob, L. H., Ishak, A., & Kadir, A. A. (2018). Traditional and Complementary
Medicine Use in Knee Osteoarthritis and its Associated Factors Among Patients in Northeast Peninsular
Malaysia. Oman medical journal, 33(2), 148.
Hurley, J., & Barron, D. (2018). Emotional intelligence and leadership. In Emotional Intelligence in Health
and Social Care (pp. 95-108). Routledge