Health Equity Framework for Vulnerable Seniors Living with dementia: An interactive workshop for organizations on design and implementation.

Background: The province of Ontario, Canada, is home to many culturally diverse populations; having the most amount of immigrant communities, and largest population of Indigenous people, as well as other diverse groups. Ontario is also home to 3.0 million seniors, out of the16 million people who make up the province. This prompts consideration of the unique age-related health challenges and needs of these intersecting populations. As Ontario accounts for over 300,000 of approximately the 770,000 dementia cases in Canada targeted resources are necessary.

 

To support these, and other underserviced populations, the Alzheimer Society of Ontario developed the Health Equity Framework for Vulnerable Seniors Living with Dementia to support the 26 local provincial Alzheimer societies across the province in the development and implementation of health equity approaches and increase organizational competency. The success of the framework has prompted discussion on its expanded use in other areas to address organizational gaps in health equity.

 

Audience: Leaders, decision makers, and program developers of dementia care, or senior organizations will gain knowledge of how health equity relates to dementia, identify gaps in their organizational approaches to health equity, co-develop relevant resources.

 

Approach: This 90-minute interactive workshop will introduce participants to the principles of health equity, and the structural and social determinants of health and their applicability to the dementia journey. Participants will then be introduced to the health equity framework, developed by the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, and explore how to integrate these features into their organizational settings. Using the World Café method, participants will engage in a series of short, rotating, generative discussions in small groups to explore health equity gaps in their organization and co-design solutions.

The proposed activities include:

• Introduction to Health Equity in Dementia and Structural and Social Determinants of Health.

oApproximately 15 minutes

• Introduction to the Health Equity Framework for Vulnerable Seniors Living with Dementia

oApproximately 15 minutes

• Introduction to the World Café Methods

oApproximately 10 minutes

• Health-Equity themed, rotating, break-out sessions

oApproximately 20 minutes

• Co-collaborative design of take-home resources addressing gaps

oApproximately 20 - minutes

• Q & A with participants

oApproximately 10 minutes

 

Results: /Expected Outcomes: Participants will gain new insights into health equity gaps in dementia and engage in shared learning, and co-design of relevant and adaptable tools and resources with peers and industry experts. Examples of successful implementations of the framework will be act as a guide for discussion and resource development.

 

Implications: This workshop will allow participants to better understand and identify what health equity gaps exist in their organization related to dementia and senior’s services. Participants will also learn to develop relevant tools and resources targeted to address organizational gaps. This workshop will also help to establish a community of practice with like-minded individuals interested in, and committed to, promoting health equity through their organizational structure and operations allowing for broad reach and adaptability of these learnings in diverse contexts.