Grant: Team Grant: CCNA Phase III: Research Teams

Canadians with dementia often face barriers to getting the care and support they need. These challenges can be even greater for those who are disadvantaged by factors like their gender, socioeconomic status (meaning education, income, and type of job), race, or the language they speak. When these factors overlap, they can create even larger obstacles to accessing services and living a good quality of life. Unfortunately, little research has focused on understanding "intersectionality", or how these overlapping factors affect people living with dementia. Our team is working to address this gap. We have extensive experience in researching health services and equity, along with strong partnerships with health organizations, community groups serving people from equity-seeking groups, clinicians, and people living with dementia and their care partners. Building on this foundation, we will: 1) Create a list of national and provincial health databases that include information on social factors, and evaluate how useful they are for studying equity and intersectionality in dementia care, 2) Use this data to create provincial portraits for Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, showing how gender, income, race, and language interact to influence the healthcare use and outcomes of people with dementia, and 3) Work with community organizations, clinicians, and people affected by dementia to identify and prioritize steps to improve care for those facing the greatest challenges. Through this team grant, we plan to uncover the unique challenges faced by people living with dementia from equity-seeking groups, identify ways to reduce health inequities, improve care and quality of life, and train the next generation of leaders in dementia equity research and practice.