Over the mountain to Alzheimer’s

In a society that has largely overcome its squeamishness about discussing diseases like breast and prostate cancer, afflictions of the mind remain harder to talk about. Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias, rarely figure in popular culture—notwithstanding the Sarah Polley movie Away From Her based on Alice Munro’s story The Bear Came Over the Mountain. But new projections from the Alzheimer Society of Canada need airing: the aging of the boomer generation into its declining years will create a tenfold increase in the demand for long-term care beds and cost the Canadian economy a staggering $97 billion annually. Is our care system braced for the challenge? Are our families? Almost certainly not.

Ottawa Citizen