On Wednesday, local MPP Lisa Thompson and Ontario Trillium Foundation volunteer John McLeod met with representatives from three area Alzheimer Societies (Grey-Bruce, Huron and Perth) to officially congratulate them on receiving a $652,800 Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) Grow grant which will help fund the program for the next three years. The grant, received in 2019, is being used to expand on the innovative Minds in Motion® Program (MIM) that was introduced in Ontario five years ago. The three societies had a previous OTF grant in the past for the MIM, and due to the resounding success, are expanding it with the addition of social recreation programs.

“The Minds in Motion program has made a huge difference for people with early to mid signs of dementia and their care partners,” said Thompson. “I am very glad to see that it will not only continue but expand over the next three years.”

The Alzheimer Societies of Grey-Bruce, Huron, and Perth were among six societies in Ontario that offered the program in 2014 and 2015 as a pilot project, followed by three years of success through another OTF grant. OTF funding will allow each Society to increase programs to 12 eight-week sessions each year up from nine. In addition, each society will be adding multiple social recreation programs like photography, art therapy and gardening. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.

“We are thrilled that we will continue to be able to offer this program for the next three years,” said Stephen Musehl, Executive Director of the Alzheimer Society of Grey-Bruce. “Early on in the pilot program we saw the value of Minds in Motion® for person’s with dementia and for their care partners. With there being a large gap in social and recreation programs for person’s living with dementia and their care partners, we really wanted to add a social recreation element to this program.”

People with dementia are often excluded from mainstream recreational programs due to cognitive deficits or potential need for support. This exclusion contributes to social isolation and decreased activity and compromises health and wellbeing.

The program offers gentle and easy to follow physical activities and fun social activities focused on building personal connections. This program has been shown to break down leisure barriers and increases social participation outside of the program. Social recreation will continue to follow these important elements of MIM but open it up to others who don’t necessarily participate in the exercise as much, and would like to try new things as well.

“Evidence from the pilot projects shows that participation in Minds in Motion® decreases social isolation and improves physical and emotional wellbeing,” Musehl added. “I anticipate the social recreation activities will have a very similar effect”

The program also contributes to increased awareness of dementia, and other programs offered by local Alzheimer Societies. MIM is a two-hour, eight-week community-based program for people with dementia and their care partners that combines physical activity and mental stimulation. Social Recreation programs will consist of client focuses activities for persons with dementia, as well as their care partners, that they have shown interest in based on consultations with several groups.

In Grey-Bruce, there are twelve MIM programs a year in various locations, plus a few Social Recreation programs, called Active Living. This will allow us to help some of our waitlist for the program by expanding the current MIM sessions as well as adding new programming. The various locations will be Owen Sound, Hanover, Saugeen Shores, Markdale, Meaford and Thornbury.

The Societies partner with other groups including the YMCA in Owen Sound, the P&H Centre in Hanover, the South East CHC in Markdale, St. Pauls Anglican Church in Southampton, Christ Church Anglican in Meaford and St. George’s in Thornbury.The Societies will continue to work together to ensure consistent standards for the program.

The key goals of the program during that time: Enabling the person with dementia to get involved in community life; Promoting healthy lifestyle changes for both the person with dementia and their care partner to improve quality of life; Increasing inclusiveness to create dementia friendly communities through education and awareness; and Minds in Motion will become a mainstream, self-sustained program based on local collaboration and education supported by trained and skilled volunteers.

For more information about Minds in Motion® and to get involved in the program visit www.alzhemer.ca/greybruce.

source: media release