Family Physicians
Normally the first point of contact with the health care system. Focus on prevention, early detection and treatment of general health care problems through regular physical examination. For diagnosis and treatment of specific conditions, family physicians may refer patients to a specialist.
See Services >> Family Physicians

Functional Assessment
Evaluates the individual's ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) and the individual's ability to care for himself/herself. "Activities of daily living," or ADLs, are the basic tasks of everyday life, such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and transferring.
See Services >> Functional Assessment

Geriatric Medical Assessment
Evaluates the individual's medical status, using specialized knowledge of the health and illnesses of the elderly.
See Services >> Geriatric Medical Assessment

Multi-Disciplinary Assessment
Evaluates the individual from the perspective of more than one health profession. Nurses, physicians, nutritionists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists are frequently involved.
See Services >> Multi-Disciplinary Assessment

Neurological Assessment
A physical examination by a neurologist or other physician, which evaluates the neurological status of the individual, using specialized knowledge of the function and distribution of the nerves in the body.
See Services >> Neurological Assessment

Neuropsychiatric Assessment
Psychiatric assessment that uses specific questions to highlight or identify specific neurological deficits which have psychiatric signs and symptoms.
See Services >> Neuropsychiatric Assessment

Neuropsychological Assessment
Specific psychological tests that localize areas of dysfunction in the brain.
See Services >> Neuropsychological Assessment

Psychiatric Assessment
An oral examination by a psychiatrist or other physician, designed to elicit or identify psychiatric dysfunction, such as anxiety or depression. (Depression or anxiety can present as dementia, but they are in fact "pseudo" dementias.) Comprised of a full history and mental status examination.
See Services >> Psychiatric Assessment

Treatment services for individuals who have already been diagnosed with a form of dementia and who may be experiencing issues around their diagnosis, behaviour or medication management.

Behavioural Management Services
Behavioural Management Services aid individuals with dementia and or their caregivers in the assessment and treatment of behavioural disturbances, psychoses or depression. May include in and out patient care depending on the organization.
See Services >> Behavioural Management

Complex Continuing Care
Complex Continuing Care is a higher level of care than what is provided by Long-Term Care Centres and other nursing facilities. Generally, residents require 24-hour nursing care and access to complex medical and diagnostic services not offered elsewhere. Residents may have physical, cognitive or behavioural conditions that limit their ability to live independently in the community.
See Services >> Complex Continuing Care

Day Hospital
A day program intended to assess and/or treat the individual through attendance at a specialized hospital unit for from 3 to 6 hours per day, for one to three days per week. Transportation and meals may be provided. Fees may apply.
See Services >> Day Hospital

Hemodialysis Treatment
Hemodialysis is a method used to treat advanced and permanent kidney failure. It cleans the blood using a machine also known as "artificial kidney".
See Services >> Hemodialysis Treatment

Medical Housecall Services
Private companies providing in-home doctors visits. Not for emergency situations. Doctors are not specialized in dementia care. Fees are usually covered by Ontario Health Insurance Plan. Company does not guarantee same doctor for each visit.
See Services >> Medical Housecall Services

Memory Clinic
Memory clinics generally offer diagnosis, care and support to clients who are experiencing memory disorders, abnormal behaviours or some kind of dementia. Services vary from organization to organization.
See Services >> Memory Clinic

Advance Care Planning Services
Advance care planning is the process of making choices now, while the person is capable, about how a person wishes to be cared for in the future if he/she becomes incapable of making decisions. It is also about giving someone we trust the information and authority to act on those wishes for us. This service may include help with creating Power of Attorney for Personal Care documents.

"A Power of Attorney for Personal Care (sometimes called a 'personal power of attorney') is a legal document. With this document you give someone the power to make personal care decisions on your behalf if you become mentally incapable of making them yourself. 'Personal care decisions are decisions about your health care (including medical treatment), diet, housing, clothing, hygiene, and safety.'"
See Services >> Advance Care Planning

Capacity Assessment Services
"Capacity assessment is a formal assessment of a person's mental capacity to make decisions about property and/or personal care under the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 (SDA). Under the SDA, assessments are made in some situations where, as a last resort, individuals need to have someone else make decisions for them on a long-term basis. If a person is found incapable of making decisions regarding property and/or personal care, a guardian may be appointed or a power of attorney may become effective, depending upon the circumstances."
See Services >> Capacity Assessment Services

Elder Abuse Services
Elder abuse includes any act of commission or omission that results in harm to an elderly person. Programs and services are aimed at preventing, identifying, investigating and/or mitigating the effects of elder abuse. Programs are specific to each organization. Please refer to each specific organization for more detailed information.
See Services >> Elder Abuse Services

Financial Aid / Subsidies
Financial aid and subsidies that might help seniors, persons with dementia and their caregivers.
See Services >> Financial Aid / Subsidies

Financial Planning
Private or not for profit agencies that may aid individuals in planning for their financial future. Services are provided by bankers, financial consultants or lawyers. These services may include help with creating Power of Attorney for Property documents.

"A Power of Attorney for Property is a legal document that gives someone else the power to act on your behalf. You may give a Power of Attorney for Property if you want someone to help you manage your finances or are worried about becoming unable to manage them. "Property" includes your money, your home (if you own one), and anything else you own."
See Services >> Financial Planning

Income Tax Preparation / Income Tax Clinic
Professionals and/or trained volunteers help older adults and low-income individuals and their families to complete their tax return forms. Fees may apply.
See Services >> Income Tax Preparation / Income Tax Clinic

Programs that provide emotional support, information and guidance to aid people in resolving whatever personal or interpersonal difficulties they may be experiencing. The counsellor can address any issue that is troubling the individual, but does not specialize in the treatment of any particular problem area.

Individual Counselling
Programs that offer individual therapeutic sessions in which the counsellor works on a one-to-one basis with clients to help them resolve their mental, emotional or social problems. The counsellor may have a social work, occupational therapy or other educational background.

Bereavement Counselling
Programs that provide emotional support, problem-solving assistance, information and guidance for individuals who have recently lost a loved one. Counselling may be in the form of one on one counselling or group work. Services are not necessarily dementia specific.
See Services >> Bereavement Counselling

Case Management
This service assists clients and their caregivers with problem identification and clarification through the gathering of client information and the provision of short-term service coordination.
Case managers generally provide the following services:

• Develop long-term goals, identify appropriate community and specialized support services in order to maximize independence and to increase accessibility of generic services.
• Assist clients and their caregivers in the coordination of services.
• Act as advocates for individual clients, or support clients and/or caregivers in their role as an advocate.
• Work collaboratively with other community agencies to develop and maintain a continuum of coordinated services.

See Services >> Case Management

Client Intervention and Assistance
This program offers crisis intervention, client service assistance and information for seniors, people with dementia and/or caregivers living in the community. Please note that this is not an emergency response service.
Client service assistance includes problem identification, referral and services coordination and discharge program.
This service may include:

•  Supportive counselling to seniors and their caregivers;
•  Information and referral to community resources for identified needs or issues;
•  Coordination of services;
•  In-home visits;
•  Practical assistance with regard to housing, finances, medical needs, income programs and accessing community services;
•  Practical assistance such as filling out forms and applications (income tax, old age security, income supplement);
•  Crisis intervention;
•  Advocacy and assistance to people who are at risk of being unable to continue living independently in the community.

See Services >> Client Intervention and Assistance

Crisis Intervention
Service that provides support and crisis intervention in critical situations to vulnerable and at-risk individuals, including persons with dementia and/or their caregivers. The goal of the service is to stabilize the crisis situation, and to begin to develop a plan for the longer term.
See Services >> Crisis Intervention

Dementia Specific Counselling
This service provides supportive or therapeutic counselling, education, information and referral to both the person with dementia and their caregiver at all stages of the disease, from before diagnosis to the late stage. Issues such as getting diagnosis, understanding dementia, immediate and future care of the person with dementia as well as family coping may be discussed.
See Services >> Dementia Specific Counselling

Geriatric Care Management
A geriatric care manager is a professional, such as a social worker, counsellor, nurse, or gerontologist who specializes in assisting older people and their families to attain the highest quality of life given the circumstances. For a fee, they provide short-term or ongoing assistance for long distance caregivers or others requiring assistance. This is a private service and it is not covered by OHIP.
Geriatric care managers may provide the following services:

•  assessment
•  care planning
•  screening
•  arrangement and monitoring of in-home help and related services
•  financial and legal services
•  conservation of funds
•  information and referral
•  education and advocacy
•  individual and family counselling
•  crisis intervention
•  placement and relocation

See Services >> Geriatric Care Management

Information and Referral
A service designed to link the individual to appropriate services. Most community agencies provide this service to their clients or to individuals who call for assistance.
See Services >> Information and Referral

Mental Health Crisis Intervention
Support service that provides crisis intervention and stabilization for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
See Services >> Mental Health Crisis Intervention

Support Groups for Caregivers
Programs that offer a facilitator lead group session in which unrelated groups of individuals, couples or families discuss their attitudes, feelings and problems related to their caregiver role and, with input from other members of the group, attempt to achieve greater self and interpersonal understanding and adjustment and explore solutions to their problems. May be ongoing or time limited.
See Services >> Support Groups for Caregivers

Dementia Specific Educational Training and Support
Education and training on dementia and related topics. This includes workshops for persons with dementia, their caregivers and for health care professionals. Fees may be applicable. This service does not include internal staff training.
See Services >> Dementia Specific Education and Training

Adult Day Programs
A support service, which provides supervised programming in a group setting for adults to assist them to achieve and maintain their maximum level of functioning, to prevent premature and inappropriate institutionalization, and to provide respite and information for caregivers.
Components of the service include planned social, recreational and physical activities, meals, and transportation (if required), personal support/attendant care and minor health care service (e.g., monitoring medication).
Usually located in a hospital, senior's centre or other community location, the service is provided for all or part of a day, or, in a few locations, during the evening. User fees may apply.
See Services >> Adult Day Programs

Community Care Access Centre / Home Care
Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) are not-for-profit community agencies, which are responsible for the direct provision of information and referral services, placement coordination services and case management. On behalf of individuals in the community, they are also responsible for the indirect delivery (through contracts) of:

• Professional services such as: nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, nutrition therapy, speech and language pathology;
• Personal support/homemaking services such as: light house cleaning, doing laundry, ironing, mending, shopping, banking, paying bills, planning meals, caring for children, supervision, washing, mouth care, hair care, menstrual care, preventive skin care, changing dressings, hand/foot care, etc.

CCAC's are funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and governed by government-appointed Boards of Directors.

See Services >> CCACs - In Home Services

Congregate Dining
A support service that provides a nutritious meal at a central location on prearranged days. It may include social activities and transportation.
See Services >> Congregate Dining

Dental Services
Programs that specialize in mouth care including the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the teeth and gums.
See Services >> Dental Services

Dieticians / Nutritionists
The practice of dietetics is the assessment of nutrition and nutritional conditions and the treatment and prevention of nutrition-related disorders by nutritional means.
See Services >> Dieticians / Nutritionists

Footcare Specialists
A service that arranges for a person, trained in basic or advanced foot care, to care for the feet of an individual who is unable to do so himself/herself. Service may include trimming toenails, monitoring the condition of feet, bathing and massaging feet. May include the service of a chiropodist or podiatrist. Fees may apply.
See Services >> Footcare Specialists

Friendly Visiting
A one-to-one support service that provides a volunteer to visit an isolated senior, physically disabled adult, or person with dementia, on a regular basis. The visits are generally made to the client's home but the volunteer may also do shopping for the client, take the client on a shopping trip, banking or to a social or cultural event.
See Services >> Friendly Visiting

Homemaking/ Home Help
A support service provided in the home by trained personnel who assist with routine non-personal household activities such as:

• light house cleaning;
• laundry;
• ironing;
• mending;
• shopping;
• banking;
• paying bills;
• planning menus;
• preparing meals;
• caring for children;
• supervision;
• assisting a person with any of the above activities;
• providing prescribed equipment, supplies or other goods.

Fees may apply.
See Services >> Homemaking

Hospital to Home Transition Service
This service provides support to seniors who have been discharged from hospital care and are returning to their personal residence. May include:

• Transportation home from hospital
• Trained escort (PSW) from hospital to personal residence.
• Support to senior and caregiver to get settled at home.

Fees may apply.
See Services >> Hospital to Home Transition Service

Live-in Caregivers
Trained caregivers help ensure that those who require long-term help receive the assistance and care they need, without having to lose either their independence or dignity, and without having to leave their home. As employer of a live-in caregiver you must provide food and appropriate lodging.
See Services >> Live-in Caregivers

Meals on Wheels
A volunteer-driven support service that delivers a meal to an individual to meet their nutritional requirements. Meals may be frozen or fresh. Some organizations may also provide delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables as part of this service. Fees apply.
See Services >> Meals on Wheels

Moving / Downsizing
This service helps seniors downsizing their homes/belongings and perhaps moving into a smaller house, supportive housing, retirement communities or nursing homes. Fees apply.
See Services >> Moving/Downsizing

Nursing Services
"The scope of nursing practice includes promotion of health, maintenance and restoration of health, prevention of illness and disability, alleviation of suffering, and ensuring a peaceful death when life can no longer be sustained."
See Services >> Nursing Services

Occupational Therapy
The practice of occupational therapy is the assessment of function and adaptive behaviour, and the treatment and prevention of disorders which affect function or adaptive behaviour to develop, maintain, rehabilitate or augment function in the areas of self care, productivity and leisure.
See Services >> Occupational Therapy

Palliative Care / Hospice
Programs that may provide a full range of palliative and supportive services for terminally-ill people who are in the final stages of illness and for their families. Services may include medical care, pain and symptom management, home nurse visitation, case management, counselling, and bereavement services for the patient and members of the family.
A hospice may be a freestanding facility, a unit in a hospital or other institution, or a program of a hospital, agency or institution. Programs vary between organizations.
See Services >> Palliative Care / Hospice

Personal Care Services at Home
Support services which promote independent living through assistance with personal care activities such as:

• personal hygiene (washing and bathing), mouth care, hair care, preventative skin care, routine hand or foot care;
• transferring or positioning into chairs, vehicles or beds;
• dressing and undressing;
• assistance with eating;
• assistance with toileting;
• escorting to appointments.

Personal care is provided by personnel with specialized training, who can assist clients with their activities, or help to ensure their safety while they complete the activities themselves.
See Services >> Personal Care Services at Home

Physiotherapy
The practice of physiotherapy is the assessment of physical function and the treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention of physical dysfunction, injury or pain to develop, maintain, rehabilitate or augment function or to relieve pain.
See Services >> Physiotherapy

Respite Care at Home
A support service in a client's home to provide short term relief for family and friends from their caregiving role, and to help relieve stress placed on family relationships.
See Services >> Respite Care at Home

Speech Pathologists
The practice of speech - language pathology is the assessment of speech and language functions and the treatment and prevention of speech and language dysfunction or disorders to develop, maintain, rehabilitate or augment oral motor or communication function.
See Services >> Speech Pathologists

Telephone Reassurance and Security Checks
Programs that contact elderly individuals or people who have disabilities by telephone on a regular basis to ensure their good health and safety, and to reassure them that help is available if and when they need it.
See Services >> Telephone Reassurance and Security Checks

Departure and Tracking Alarms
Departure alarm is a device that alerts a caregiver or family member when an individual attempts to leave the house on his/her own. A tracking device allows a caregiver to locate someone who has left the house.
See Services >> Departure and Tracking Alarms

Home Healthcare Equipment Services
Health care equipment for clients convalescing at home, including walkers, wheelchairs, commodes, crutches, bath seats, etc.
See Services >> Home Healthcare Equipment Services

Home Maintenance Programs
A support service that arranges for an individual worker or company to undertake a home maintenance and/or repair job when the job is beyond the consumer's capability to undertake or arrange. The job may be undertaken regularly, occasionally or once only.
Examples of regular jobs include:

• heavy house cleaning;
• yard maintenance;
• snow shovelling;
• and washing outside windows.

One-time jobs include:

• helping the client to arrange home repairs and renovations such as decorating, plumbing, electrical, roof repairs, masonry repairs and structural modifications for personal safety, barrier-free access and quality of life.

See Services >> Home Maintenance Programs

Home Safety Assessment and Counselling
A service that assesses the potential physical dangers faced by people with memory and cognitive deficits living alone or with family. Solutions to these potential dangers are proposed and/or arranged.
See Services >> Home Safety Assessment and Counselling

Medical Response Alarms
A private service that provides an emergency response when the client pushes a button when in need of medical assistance. Fees applicable.
See Services >> Medical Response Alarms

Accessible Transportation
Transportation services available for individuals confined to wheelchairs. Fees apply.
See Services >> Accessible Transportation

Ambulance Services
Emergency
Service to transport individuals with acute health needs to appropriate medical services in a timely manner.

Non Emergency
Service that transfers or transports individuals who cannot use regular transportation or taxi services (usually because they are confined to bed) to medical appointments, long-term care facilities or other locations. Fees may apply.
See Services >> Ambulance Services

Driving Assessments
Driving assessments to determine an individuals medical fitness to drive.
See Services >> Driving Assessment

Transportation Services
A support service that provides escorted or unescorted transportation to medical appointments, shopping and to various social activities and programs. Services may vary between agencies. Fees may apply.
See Services >> Transportation Services

Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) - Placement
Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) are not-for-profit community agencies, which are responsible for the direct provision of information and referral services, placement coordination services and case management.
There are three different types of placement:

• Long-term care facility (see below);
• Short-term stay (see below);
• Crisis placement (when the client's support network has broken down and immediate admission to a long-term care facility is necessary. In this instance the client will be placed in the first suitable facility that becomes available. Clients may transfer to another facility they prefer at a later time).

If clients need services while waiting for placement, CCACs make the necessary referrals and connect them to the appropriate services and service providers.

See Services >> CCAC - Placement

Long Term Care Facilities (also known as Nursing Homes or Home for the Aged)
Residential setting that provides care on a 24-hour a day basis to individuals whose needs can no longer be met in the community. Long-term care facilities include nursing homes and homes for the aged. Placement into a long-term care facility is secured through the client's local community care access centre.
See Services >> Long Term Care Facilities

Retirement Homes
Retirement homes are privately owned rental accommodations for seniors. While services vary between homes, retirement homes usually provide meals, laundry services, recreational activities, assistance with medication, and assistance with baths.
Generally, retirement homes are designed for seniors who need minimal to moderate support with activities of daily living activities, however some homes are open to persons with dementia.
The Government of Ontario does not subsidize, regulate or monitor standards in retirement homes. Costs vary according to room accommodations, meal plans, services and personal care needs of the resident. A private room can cost between $1500 and $5000 per month.
See Services >> Retirement Homes

Short Term Stay
Designed to supports clients during recovery from an illness or to provide a respite break for caregivers. These stays are for a short, specified time up to a maximum of days per year.
See Services >> Short Term Stay

Addictions / Substance Misuse
As individuals age, their bodies will become more sensitive to the effects of alcohol and drugs. These programs aim to help persons with addiction problems. Services listed are geared to seniors and are not necessarily dementia specific.
See Services >> Addictions / Substance Misuse

Early Onset Services
Services geared to individuals diagnosed with dementia before the age of 65 or their families.
See Services >> Early Onset (under 65)

Homeless People
Services for individuals living in shelters, hostels or outside.
See Services >> Homeless Services