Brain Health in Community

This video is a taster of the kind of conversations you may expect at the next Peer-Mentoring / Journal Club sessions. Come join our Learning Community! Peer-Mentoring sessions are not recorded. Links to the 2022 CEnR Webinars are here: CEnR for Dementia Prevention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmhjLy5DF4Y CEnR in Low-Income Contexts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X1sRLyTyyc

Participants of a multicomponent Brain Health in Community (BHIC) preventive pilot reflect on key takeaways. Programs included (1) Finding Meaning in Aging (FMA) Reading Circle (on Zoom) which was co-developed through a series of 12 focus groups and successfully promoted a sense of At-Homeness (psychological safety), (2) Gardener's Hangout at Clinton Park, BC, and (3) Stories in the Moment for All (on Zoom).

This trademarked program was led by New York-based dance artist Magda Kacmarska with BC seniors during the pandemic. The group bonded over 8 weeks which culminated in a collective Portrait. Here are reflections from of some attendees from the Brain Health in Community (BHIC) pilot. Learn more about Stories in the Moment here: https://magdakaczmarska.com/stories-in-the-moment

Linking seniors to community resources is evermore important to improve their quality of life. Seniors Linking seniors to community resources is evermore important to improve their quality of life. Seniors with robust social networks thrived during COVID-19, whereas seniors in areas without such networks suffered. While BC's General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) is rolling out Primary Care Networks through the Divisions of Family Practice, its implementations require better knowledge of resources in local communities. We convened seniors and stakeholders (including community-based health professionals) for critical discussions on the next frontier of preventive community care. The presentation included links to the following innovations in Community and Health sectors: BC Preventive Social Prescribing: https://www.bcpsp.ca Peer Navigation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV7c4EZwkWI Park Prescription: https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1519323026646568962 BC Brain Wellness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x3ffaV-Nw8 Senior Peer Support: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXrlaYqw-vY This Knowledge Mobilization workshop is the culmination of two research projects on (1) COVID-19 Neighbourhood Wellbeing and (2) Brain Health in the Community, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Engage Grant (PEG) with United Way, a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) - Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship on Urban Housing and Health, and SFU Community-Engaged Research Initiative (CERi).

BC Preventive Social Prescribing (PSP) auto-refers seniors who visit family clinics or pharmacies to the perfect program near home that will improve their wellbeing based on their Cohesion, At-homeness, and Playfulness (CAP) profiles. It builds community among isolated seniors and complements the Primary Care Networks (PCN) of BC. Learn more here: https://www.equigenesis.ca/bcpsp

This video is part of a preview of three programs on (1) Gardener's Hangout at Clinton Park, BC, (2) Finding Meaning in Aging Reading Circle (on Zoom), and (3) Stories in the Moment for All (on Zoom). Link to first video: https://youtu.be/38gmqH5ixP8 These programs are part of a study on Brain Health in the Community (BHIC) and are free for all. They will run for 8 weeks in June and July 2022. Survey participants will receive $15 gift cards. Sign up at this link: https://forms.gle/pJkfC34me8Qh2VQR7 Or email drgan@sfu.ca if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you!

This presentation was given at the Putting Patients First conference, organized by the Michael Smith Health Research BC in March 2022. Please see the follow-up intervention study here: https://youtu.be/38gmqH5ixP8 The research was funded by Simon Fraser University (SFU) Community Engagement Initiative. We thank all community partners and participants for their support.