Winnie Sun

By Winnie Sun, Shelby-Lynne Clarke, Hanaan Madahey and Ping Zou

People living with dementia and their caregivers continue to experience social isolation and are impacted by consequential negative health impacts. Social recreational programs are community-oriented programs that aim to reduce the levels of social isolation among persons with dementia and their informal caregivers by providing the opportunity to strengthen their social network through an increased social participation in the community. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the reduction of social isolation experienced by persons living with dementia and their caregivers through the use of social recreational programs as a recovery intervention method. A review of the existing literature was conducted to explore the impact of social isolation among the dementia community and to explore the role of social recreational programs as an exemplar of recovery intervention to promote social connectedness. Literature was examined through thematic analysis to identify the emerging themes. Two main themes were examined through the literature review: (1) the impact of social isolation on the health and emotional burden experienced by the persons living with dementia and their caregivers; and (2) the therapeutic components of social recreational programs that represent as a potential recovery intervention to promote the sense of social inclusion. This chapter highlighted the need for future research to examine the effectiveness of social recreational programs in helping the persons with dementia and their caregivers to combat the negative effects of social isolation, as well as to empower them in actively participating and being socially engaged in the community.

Part of the book: Advances in Dementia Research

By Winnie Sun, Srija Biswas, Michelle Dacanay and Ping Zou

Canada is working on improving the diagnosis and treatment of Canadians with cognitive impairment and promoting living well with dementia. Despite the availability of support network, Canadians living with dementia are identified to commonly experience social isolation and exclusion. This issue is particularly significant among migrants and refugees, for whom access to dementia care and support programs are found to be significantly less than the non-migrated Canadians. The purpose of this critical analysis is to examine the existing literature related to the sociocultural factors that contribute to the access of dementia care and support programs by persons with dementia. Specifically, a literature review was conducted to examine the barriers and facilitating factors that influence equitable access to dementia care and support programs among migrants and refugees. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify the following four major themes: (1) stigma, (2) culturally preferred coping strategies, (3) misconceptions regarding aging and dementia, and (4) language barriers.. This review identifies the need for future research to explore the key barriers faced by migrants and refugees with dementia in accessing timely and appropriate dementia care and support programs, as well as developing equitable programs and culturally sensitive services that adequately address their needs.

Part of the book: Redirecting Alzheimer Strategy