Grant: Operating Grant: Challenge of Dementia in Indigenous Populations

Indigenous populations in Canada are at higher risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia. However, the approaches that health care providers typically use to detect and diagnose dementia do not work well with Indigenous people. This study starts with a culturally-adapted cognitive assessment tool that was first developed with Indigenous people in Australia and has since been adapted with First Nation communities on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. We will test how well that tool works to detect cognitive impairment and dementia in three provinces (Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and diverse Indigenous populations, including 17 First Nations communities and an urban Indigenous health centre. The goal of the project is to develop a Canadian Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool for widespread use and to lay a foundation for a national study of dementia in Indigenous populations.