Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

There is evidence to suggest the burden of dementia may be greater in Indigenous populations than it is in non-Indigenous populations. The objective of this study is to characterize the epidemiology of dementia diagnoses and care in Ontario Indigenous populations using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and provincial health insurance claims datasets housed at the Institute of Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES). We have established a Community Advisory Board (CAB) comprised of five members from a variety of research backgrounds, Indigenous communities and lived experiences to provide leadership, support and direction to all stages of our research. Specifically, the CAB will ensure we answer questions relevant to Indigenous communities, think beyond risk factors that have already been established for dementia and are relevant to the Indigenous community (e.g. heavy metal contamination), incorporate Indigenous healing and traditional medicine for dementia, help interpret our findings through an Indigenous lens (e.g. social determinants of health), and provide community feedback for all stages of research. This research project is the first of its kind in Ontario and will serve as a building block for future research, including work proposed by team 20 of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA). By characterizing the epidemiology of dementia cases and care in Indigenous populations we hope to identify risk factors, identify gaps in dementia health services, and increase awareness of dementia among Indigenous populations in Ontario.