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Ontario will connect every person diagnosed with dementia with a patient navigator by expanding the proven First Link program to every community across the province, making access to care more consistent and fair for families regardless of where they live.
Dipika Damerla, Minister of Seniors Affairs, made the announcement today on behalf of Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, at the Alzheimer Society of Ontario in Toronto.
Expanding the Alzheimer Society’s First Link program will provide 14,000 people diagnosed with dementia, and their care partners, with the services of a First Link Care Navigator who will help them access local supports and programs, such as health professionals, information about day-to-day living and care, counselling, and other community programs and services. Under the expanded First Link program, 46 First Link Care Navigators will be hired.
The province is also supporting an additional 8,000 people living with dementia and providing respite to their families and other care partners by increasing access to community dementia programs. These programs offer activities for people living with dementia, such as art, music, and exercise, which can provide meaningful social and recreational engagement and lead to enhanced well-being. Respite services, which includes in-home and overnight support, reduce care partner burnout and help people with dementia live safely at home for as long as possible.
Supporting people living with dementia in communities across the province is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.