On Tuesday, October 18, 2022, CanAge, Canada’s National Seniors Advocacy Organization released its much anticipated ‘Dementia Report 2022.’ The report is the first independent report of its kind, measuring and comparing governmental action on dementia.

This comprehensive report highlights a cross-country team effort, embarking on nearly two years of research. As a volunteer policy analyst with CanAge, I was fortunate enough to contribute to the initial research efforts, hosting conversations with leaders of the Alzheimer’s Societies across Canada as well as other community care organizations dedicated to supporting Canadians living with a diagnosis of dementia.

CanAge asked the difficult question, ‘why does Canada, one of the wealthiest, most stable countries in the world, with universal healthcare and a social safety net, fail so profoundly in dementia care?’

In answering that question, the CanAge team took a hard look at the National Dementia Strategy with a mind towards determining where we are on our progress towards implementing that strategy. Despite the fact that Canada is one of only 39 member states of WHO’s global action plan on the public health response to dementia (2017-2025) with a National Strategy, CanAge found that the National Strategy lacks clear guidelines of implementation and success criteria across provinces and territories, undermining the impact of it’s strong mandate.

CanAge’s CEO Laura Tamblyn Watts says that Canada has a golden opportunity to emerge on the global stage as a leader in seniors’ care, but that having a National Dementia Strategy is not enough on its own. Provinces and territories are signalling that the money is either moving too slowly, or the ongoing challenges with healthcare system capacities and labour shortages are crippling many regional healthcare systems.

The picture is clear: across the world, approximately 55 million people have dementia. CanAge’s report estimated that dementia care costs $1.3 USD trillion each year and is now the 7^th leading cause of mortality globally.

Here at home, Canadians are living longer and seniors aged 85 and older are now one of the fastest-growing demographics. The report highlights that the risk of dementia doubles at the age of 85 (to a 24.6% chance from just 12.4% between the ages of 80-84). CanAge was clear: these facts show us that every minute counts.

However, as the report highlights, Canada’s response to rapidly rising rates of dementia has been woefully inadequate. According to the report, in 2016, only 2 out of 5 Canadian doctors felt well-prepared to manage community dementia care.

In fact, CanAge discovered that in 2020, there were 6,835,866 seniors over the age of 65 but only 327 geriatricians – that’s only one geriatrician for every 20,905 seniors – compared to 1 paediatrician for every 2,822 children in Canada, a ten-fold difference.

The report indicated that early access to a diagnosis is critical for those living with dementia, but about two out of three of Canadian primary care practices are not accepting new patients. What’s more, dementia requires a multidisciplinary approach to care, but fewer Canadian primary care physicians reported having “frequently” coordinated care with social services compared with other countries. To this end, the report warns that Canada will face an influx of dementia patients large enough to overwhelm its healthcare system between now and 2050.

The report looked at the most important metrics for determining whether Canada is prepared to deal with this influx: Support for Patients, Support for Caregivers, Support for Healthcare Providers, and Supportive Policies. The report is clear and conclusive, signalling that not a single province or territory in Canada is “Dementia-Ready” – we echo CanAge’s sentiment: We need to do better. We can do better.

The report in its entirety can be accessed online at:

https://www.canage.ca/advocacy/dementia-report-2022/