In the new Novalis book Here With Us: A Parish Guide to Serving People with Dementia, The Catholic Register’s Michael Swan outlines a massive pastoral challenge. There will be well over one million Canadians living with some form of dementia by 2036. They certainly will not be absent from parishes. Are we ready?

OTTAWA -- An Ottawa man is on a mission to make Canadian places of worship more welcoming to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who suffer from dementia.

The Bride and I recently had a return visit with the doctor who specializes in memory problems. New tests had been done, and we were about to receive the results. 

OTTAWA -- Armed with a government commitment of $50 million to implement a National Dementia Strategy, advocates are not about to let up on efforts to keep the issue on the front burner.

More than half a million Canadians are living with dementia and many more people than that live with a dementia sufferer. In little more than a decade those numbers are projected to almost double.

Janet Somerville is afraid she might set her apartment on fire. She might forget a candle, or a kettle, or a pot on the stove. It happened once recently — a candle on the bookcase burning down until the flame spread to the bookcase itself. She made a panicked 911 call, then doused the flames well before the fire engines roared into the courtyard. But she gave herself a fright.

As both a Catholic teacher and founding member of Dementia Advocacy Canada, Matt Dineen wants to visit parishes to explain what they should do to be dementia-ready and — perhaps more important — why they should do it.

OTTAWA - Matt Dineen’s long pursuit of improving lives for people living with dementia took a small but significant step forward in the federal budget.

OTTAWA - An Ottawa Catholic husband and father whose wife suffers a rare, early onset form of dementia is calling on Canada’s bishops to help advance a national dementia strategy.