Report forecasts surge of dementia cases in Canada

The Alzheimer Society of Canada is calling on stakeholders to step up to address an impending surge in the cases of dementia in the country.

More than 1.7 million people will likely be living with dementia by 2050, as the cases will increase by 187% from 2020, according to the group’s recent report.

And marginalized groups are expected to be disproportionately affected. By 2050:

• the number of people of Indigenous ancestry living with dementia in Canada is expected to increase by 273%, from 10,800 to 40,300
• almost one out of every four people who develop dementia in Canada will be of Asian origin
• 29,100 people of African ancestry in Canada will be living with Dementia, up 507% from 4,800 in 2020
• over 18,500 people of Latin, Central and South American ancestry in Canada will be living with dementia, up 434% from 3,500 in 2020
• over one million women will be living with dementia in Canada; in 2020, an estimated 61.8% of persons living with dementia in Canada were female and more than half of care partners were women.

Inclusion of these diverse groups is key to addressing the problem, said Dr. Joshua Armstrong, Alzheimer Society of Canada research scientist and lead author of the study.

"Structural barriers and social determinants of health have had an impact on the brain health of a large segment of the population,” he said. "Our findings highlight that we need to adapt how we help everyone – including Indigenous, racialized and younger adults – live with dementia, while supporting access to care, diagnosis and prevention tools for all."

This is a problem not only in Canada, but also in Australia and other parts of the world.

Recommendations for addressing dementia

The Alzheimer Society of Canada – in its report titled The Many Faces of Dementia in Canada – is calling on governments to do the following, among others, to help address the problem of surging Dementia cases:

• Increase funding for brain health and dementia research by and for Indigenous populations.
• Develop new strategies and increase resources to Indigenous communities to address the social determinants of health and brain health in culturally relevant and safe ways. 
• Enhance the national dementia strategy’s existing efforts to raise further awareness of ethnic and racial differences in dementia and in social determinants of brain health.
• Address cultural and linguistic barriers to optimal dementia care to help improve outcomes for individuals from all ethnic and racial backgrounds.
• Address structural inequities in policies and programs to better address sex and gender differences in caregiving and in risk factors for dementia.

Dementia and the workplace

The Alzheimer Society also noted that employers can help workers living with dementia succeed in the workplace by building a dementia-inclusive workplace. They can do this by keeping them in mind in the following:

• workplace health, wellness, and accommodations resources
• employee onboarding materials and handbooks
• diversity, equity, and inclusion training and resources
• supervisor and employee training

HR has a role in supporting employees with early-stage dementia, according to a previous HRD article.