Welcome
Dear Knowledge Network Members,
On November 26-27, 2024 the RaDAR team held the 17th Rural Dementia Summit. This is the 5th year that the Summit was held virtually. Our evaluations following the Summit continue to show that this format makes it possible for more people to participate, although many of those who have attended in person over the years acknowledge that they miss the personal connections that happen with an in-person event. Of those who completed the evaluation this year, 30% were new participants and 70% had attended previously. We appreciate the very helpful feedback provided in the evaluations.
This year’s program included a wide range of posters (in the format of a narrated 4-slide poster), pre-recorded, and live presentations from participants in Saskatchewan, Canada, Australia, and Wales. As I was retiring from my faculty position a month after the Summit, I used this opportunity to reflect on 25 years of rural dementia research. It has been a rewarding experience to work with so many committed, caring, and innovative people in my research career, from across the spectrum from patients and families, front-line caregivers, managers, the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan, researchers, and students. Thank you to everyone who has been engaged in the effort to improve the care of rural people living with dementia and their families.
Many thanks to all those who contributed to the program and who participated in the event. I am happy to report that planning is underway for Summit 18 in November, 2025, with the leadership of RaDAR members Drs. Julie Kosteniuk and Allison Cammer, and Duane Minish.
We are pleased to make many of the sessions from Summit 17 available on the Summit archive until early 2026. After January, 2026, presentation recordings will be removed from this archive.
Debra Morgan was the Keynote presenter at Summit 2024, with Julie Kosteniuk moderating the Q&A session. A recording of her session is available below in the Summit Session Presentations section.
Bilokreli Family Support
We are proud of ongoing funding for RaDAR via the Bilokreli Family Trust Fund which supports RaDAR to continue hosting the Summit annually. The Summit helps to maintain a community of practice focused on rural dementia care anchored here in Saskatchewan.
We appreciate the support the Bilokreli Family has provided to the RaDAR team since 2015, and their commitment to supporting dementia care in rural and remote communities. We are pleased to offer the Summit Student poster prizes in their name each year.
Poster Presentations
The online poster presentations were available early, before the Summit meeting start, to allow extra time for attendees to view the posters.
Listed below are the 13 Summit Poster presentations that were shared. Not all presenters chose to share their poster on this archive. Concurrent with the poster session was a live meet and greet Zoom session with Debra Morgan so that attendees could share their thoughts and wishes with her on her retirement.
Within the listings, we have highlighted the three 2024 Bilokreli Student Poster Prize winners.
We're pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Bilokreli Student Poster Prizes are as follows:
- 3rd Place - Brianna Wickett
- 2nd Place - Heather Alford
- 1st Place - Erin Fedusiak
Bilokreli Student Poster Prize 2nd Place Poster
Exploring Mealtime Experiences of Families Living with Dementia in Long-Term Care: A Grounded Theory Study. As PDF
Authors: Alford A, Cammer A, Ward H, Perepelkin J.
Presenter: Heather Alford
Understanding Stigma of Dementia during COVID-19: A Scoping Review. As PDF
Authors: Bacsu JD, Nanson K, Stone C, Rahemi Z, Norman M, Webster C, Spiteri RJ.
Presenter: Juanita Bacsu
Co-developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Multidisciplinary Delirium Prevention Pathway to Reduce Postoperative Delirium in Older Adults with Cognitive Decline. As PDF
Authors: Bayat A, O'Brien J, Dyck H, Hedlin P.
Presenter: Ava Bayat
Enhancing Nutritional Care of Persons Living with Dementia: Findings from an Online Questionnaire on Dietitians' Perspectives on Educational Resources, and Professional Development Need. As PDF
Authors: Dakka H, McAiney C, Middleton L, Namaslvayam-MacDonald AM, Keller, H.
Presenter: Hana Dakkak
Exploring Perspectives on the Nutrition and Hydration components of Advance Care Planning for Persons with Dementia: Proposed Research. As PDF
Authors: Dupperon A, Kosteniuk J, Cammer A.
Presenter: Amanda Dupperon
Bilokreli Student Poster Prize 2nd Place Poster
Implementation and Acceptability of an Active Living Program for Rural Older Adults. As PDF
Authors: Fedusiak E, Cammer A, Wickett B, Morgan D, Cameron C, Szakács S, Kosteniuk J.
Presenter: Erin Fedusiak
Supporting People Living with Dementia: Choral Music and Wellbeing. As PDF
Authors: Johnson, A.
Presenter: Andrea Johnson
The Experiences of People Affected by Dementia in Farming Communities. As PDF
Authors: Jones CH, Roberts J, Naughton-Morgan B.
Presenter: Catrin Hedd Jones
Care Partners Attending Rural Primary Care Memory Clinics: Service Needs and Self-efficacy. As PDF
Authors: Kosteniuk J, Morgan D, O'Connell ME, Cameron C, Elliot V, Karunanayake C.
Presenter: Julie Kosteniuk
Community Stakeholder Perspectives on the Socio-Spatial Rights of People Living with Dementia and Caregivers. As PDF
Authors: Leone, C.
Perceptions & Outcomes of an Embedded Alzheimer Society First Link Coordinator in Rural Primary Healthcare Memory Clinics. As PDF
Author: Morgan D, Bayly M, Kosteniuk J.
Presenter: Debra Morgan
Intracellular Accumulation of the Aβ Peptide can be Exacerbated by Certain Antidepressant Drugs: A Possible Risk for Iatrogenic Alzheimer Disease?.
Authors: Nyarko JNK, Knudsen KJ, Greer J, Heistad RM, Quartey MO, Carvalho CE, Mousseau DD.
Presenter: Darrell Mousseau
Bilokreli Student Poster Prize 3rd Place Poster
Exploring the Role of Registered Dietitians in Nutrition Care for Persons Living with Dementia in the Community from the Perspective of Health Care Professionals. As PDF
Author: Wickett B, Kosteniuk J, Fedusiak E, Morgan D, Klapac D, Cammer A.
Presenter: Brianna Wickett
Summit Session Presentations
An agenda with suggested viewing order and times helped to organize the pre-recorded and live delivered session content. Interaction with each pre-recorded presentation was through an embedded chat panel beside the presentation where attendees and the presenter could share comments and ask and answer questions.
The keynote presentation featuring Debra Morgan, and other sessions including the Lived Experience panel, were delivered live via Zoom Webinar and included a live Q&A session with the presenter. These live sessions were recorded and are shared below.
Here is a simplified agenda for Summit 2024, followed below by tabs with content from each Summit Session Presentation (when available) which were shared over the two days.
|
Day |
Start Time |
Session Name |
Type |
|
Tue, Nov 26 |
4:45 PM |
Pre-recorded: CIRCA: Feasibility Testing the Canadian Version of the Computer Interactive Reminiscing and Conversation Aid - presented by Arlene Astell |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Tue, Nov 26 |
5:00 PM |
Pre-recorded: DementiAbility Methods - an Innovative Approach to Dementia Care - presented by Danielle Bellamy |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Tue, Nov 26 |
5:15 PM |
Pre-recorded: Forward with Dementia: Hope for Living Well - presented by Carrie McAiney |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Tue, Nov 26 |
5:30 PM |
*LIVE* Welcome to Summit and Lived Experiences Panel - moderated by Debra Morgan |
LIVE SESSION
|
|
Tue, Nov 26 |
6:20 PM |
Poster Session - poster presenters have been asked to be online during this period to respond to messages about their poster |
Poster session |
|
Tue, Nov 26 |
6:20 PM |
*LIVE* Concurrent Session: during the poster session, meet live with Debra Morgan {this session was not recorded and does not have an entry below} |
LIVE SESSION |
|
Day |
Start Time |
Session Name |
Type |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
8:30 AM |
Pre-recorded: The DELIGHT Program: Supporting Hope, Health, and Wellbeing when Living with Dementia - presented by Laura Middleton |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
8:45 AM |
*LIVE* Welcome and Keynote Presentation - presented by Debra Morgan, moderated by Julie Kosteniuk |
LIVE SESSION |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
9:35 AM |
Pre-recorded: The Cognitive Kitchen: Lessons Learned in the Development of a Culinary Nutrition Intervention for Dementia Risk Reduction & Living Well with Dementia - co-presented by A. Cammer & J. Beitel |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
9:50 AM |
Pre-recorded: The Changing Face of Dementia - presented by Kaleta Strain |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
10:05 AM |
Pre-recorded: Dementia diagnosis and post-diagnostic support in Wales: The lived experience - presented by Jen Roberts |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
10:30 AM |
*LIVE* The Many Faces of Dementia in Canada: Navigating the Changing Demographic Landscape - presented by Josh Armstrong |
LIVE SESSION |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
11:20 AM |
Session Break |
Information |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
11:30 AM |
Pre-recorded: Care of the Elderly: an Enhanced Skill with Family Medicine - presented by Dr. Kimberley Higgins |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
11:55 AM |
Pre-recorded: SPA-LTC: Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care - presented by Paulette Hunter & Abigail Wickson-Griffiths |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
12:10 PM |
Pre-recorded: Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan: Project Windup & Key Accomplishments - presented by Nuelle Novik |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
12:35 PM |
Pre-Recorded: Seniors’ Centre Without Walls Telephone Program Partnership - presented by Karla Rasmussen |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
12:50 PM |
Pre-Recorded: Drawing on Both Sides of the Brain - presented by Dr. Andrew Kirk |
Pre-Recorded session |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
1:05 PM |
*LIVE* Closing Summit 2024 - presented by Debra Morgan {this session was not recorded and does not have an entry below} |
LIVE SESSION |
|
Wed, Nov 27 |
1:15 PM |
Thank You - End of Summit Meeting and Evaluation |
Information |
Arlene Astell, Associate Professor at University of Toronto, presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: arlene.astell@utoronto.ca
Danielle Bellamy, Director of Continuing Care for the South East Network 3-4-5 area, based in Yorkton Saskatchewan, presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: danielle.bellamy@saskhealthauthority.ca
Carrie McAiney, Associate Professor in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo, and Schlegel Research Chair in Dementia and Scientific Director of the Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging, presents this session.
Get in touch with presenter: carrie.mcainey@uwaterloo.ca
This session was originally offered live as a Zoom Webinar - the video posted is a recording of the session.
Debra Morgan welcomed all attendees to Summit 2024, and provided information about the Summit sessions, and details about the evening's Poster Session.
This was followed by the Lived Experiences Panel discussion (with Q&A from participants).
Kristen Kosar, Dementia Friendly Coordinator at SaskAbilities, and Cyndi Hoffert a participant from Yorkton join us to share a bit about the SaskAbilities Dementia Friendly Life Enrichment program. Cyndi and Kristen discuss Cyndi's experience with the program and her husband Dave's participation.
The SaskAbilities Dementia Friendly Life Enrichment Program initiative aims to improve the feelings of social inclusion of persons with dementia and their care partners residing in Yorkton and surrounding rural areas. Specific objectives of the program were to enrich the quality of life of families with lived experience of dementia, reduce care partners’ burnout, and connect families to existing supports. The project was supported by funding from Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan, and Nuelle Novik presented an overview of all the supported projects in a presentation at Summit as well.
Laura Middleton, Associate Professor, University of Waterloo, and Schlegel Research Chair in Dementia and Active Living presents this session
Want to learn more, get in touch with presenter: laura.middleton@uwaterloo.ca
This session was originally offered live as a Zoom Webinar - this is a recording of the live session.
Debra Morgan provided a morning welcome to Summit, and a Keynote presentation which reflected on the 25 year history of rural dementia research and team work that has evolved into the RaDAR team today.
After her presentation, there was a live Q&A session within the Zoom Webinar, moderated by Julie Kosteniuk.
Get in touch with the presenter: debra.morgan@usask.ca
Allison Cammer, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan and a RaDAR co-investigator, and Julie Beitel, RD, reseach assistant co-present this session.
Get in touch with the presenters: allison.cammer@usask.ca and, julie.beitel@usask.ca
Kaleta Strain, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: kstrain@alzheimer.sk.ca
Jen Roberts, a Research Officer at the Dementia Services Development Centre, Bangor University (UK), presents this session.
As Jen mentions, Catrin Hedd Jones presented a poster in the Summit Poster Session on work exploring the experiences of people with dementia in farming communities in rural areas of Wales.
Get in touch with the presenter: j.roberts@bangor.ac.uk
Dr. Kimberley Higgins, a Care of the Elderly Family Physician based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: kimberley.higgins@saskhealthauthority.ca
Paulette Hunter, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology & Health Studies at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, and Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, Associate Professor working with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Regina, present this session.
Get in touch with the presenters: phunter@stmcollege.ca and abigail.wickson-griffiths@uregina.ca
Nuelle Novik, Associate Professor at University of Regina, and SPHERU researcher, presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: nuelle.novik@uregina.ca
Karla Rasmussen, Programs Manager for the Western Development Museum, presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: krasmussen@wdm.ca
Dr. Andrew Kirk, neurologist and RaDAR team investigator, presents this session.
Get in touch with the presenter: andrew.kirk@usask.ca
Event Evaluation
We're pleased to share some of what we learned when collecting feedback from Summit 2024.
All Summit attendees were encouraged to complete a post-event evaluation of their Summit experience, with an incentive prize drawn from all who completed the survey.
The 2024 incentive draw winners were Heather D. and Erica Z. who each received a $50 Amazon gift card.
The 2024 EventMobi online event platform recorded that of the 152 initial registrants, 117 attendees logged in to attend this year. While not all registrants logged in to the event platform, some may have still joined the live-delivered sessions directly via the session links.
Fifty-nine attendees completed the post-event Evaluation Survey.
-at Summit 2024 we were pleased to host both returning and new attendees: 29% of attendees were first-time Summit participants, while 71% reported having been to at least one previous Summit.
-The poster session was rated positively, on a number of factors:
The evaluation also included open-ended questions about attendees experiences and recommendations.
The planning team uses the feedback we receive from the Summit evaluation survey to help us plan for the next Summit, as well as other online events.
Here are some direct quotes from attendees which we are happy to share:
"for me with the move to virtual, I have time to spend to retain more information from the posters with the associated short videos than just the static poster"
"Amazing, informative and I appreciate the time provided afterwards to go back and view again. The opportunity to directly message the presenter was great!"
"It's great to have the opportunity to hear about so many projects and research going on."
"Great way to share info, helpful to be able to pause a presentation and go back if I missed something. I found it really useful when people included supporting documents for their project."
"Everyone had incredible posters and seems so proud of their work. I liked being able to go back and watch some videos twice. I miss the live in person version though. You've done a great job to mimic that as close as possible."
"I am amazed at the number of ongoing projects and research that is being done across Saskatchewan and elsewhere! Very appreciative of these researchers!"
"I enjoyed being online and able to hear from individual's all over and the different programs/tools they are utilizing while working with people with dementia. If it was in person some may not have been able to travel as far to share their experiences."
[commenting on what the Summit provides] "A chance to interact with a range of people - who didn't have to be present at the same time in the same place, to contribute."
"I think it's great having this particular focus. I've attended or presented at some Canadian and American conferences focused more generally on geriatrics. I think it is great to have the more narrow concentration in this venue. Also the virtual format is fantastic. I really appreciate how the content/contact information is available for access long after the event. Many thanks!"
"It used to help me make connections, but after a few years of virtual instead of in person it is not working nearly as well. How about alternating years with virtual one year and in person the next?"
"The opportunity to learn about research that is primarily based in SK - there is great stuff taking place within the province and we need to be very proud of it."
"An invaluable experience in terms of the educational knowledge, connections, and networking opportunities over the years from being a student researcher to now being a faculty researcher. Dr. Morgan and her team are an inspiration to new and early career faculty members like myself in the field of rural dementia research."
"Because of the efficiency of being online, time away from work was minimized. The event is so well organized it makes it easy to take in the content."
"Wide variety of topics and presenters, provided the opportunity to learn about researchers, professionals, and projects that are underway that I may not have heard about otherwise."
"I enjoyed it being online because more individuals from more areas were able to participate/attend. It also gives the opportunity to join/attend from anywhere."
"The video quality was not always great. I like the idea of connecting with people virtually; but I also like being able to put faces to names; and nothing beats in person sessions in my opinion."
"I really missed the opportunity to meet with people face-to-face, and found I wasn't able to network as well virtually. This is something important to me as a new researcher trying to make connections. I'm also not sure if many people viewed the discussion board and saw my recruitment posters."
"This made Summit highly accessible by participants from far and wide, allowing more people to contribute and participate than if it had been in person"
"Overall, virtual Summit is much more economical and time efficient. Recorded sessions also allow me to view sessions that I could not watch live (due to other work commitments). Thank you for recording sessions to view again when I have more time."
Summit Attendees Map
As part of the registration process, and with attendees' consent, we 'dropped a pin' to visually represent the locations from which people joined Summit 2024. An advantage of hosting Summit as an online event has been increased participation from international guests and presenters.
