Primary Care is a cornerstone and often a gateway into the health system as it relates to older persons experiencing issues related to mental health and dementia. CDRAKE is working with the Alzheimer Knowledge Exchange in Ontario to offer primary care practitioners, interested in dementia care practices, with a forum for knowledge exchange to support their practice and learning needs.

Aimed at connecting the primary care people, knowledge and resources related to innovation in dementia care to help improve the health outcomes of the person and his or her caregivers, we envision this community of practice will help:

• Connect leaders of dementia care from across Canada
• Profile leading dementia care practices
• Promote collaboration, networking and exchange of knowledge
• Assemble and create resources to support practice
• Disseminate knowledge of dementia care practices and resources

The concept for the Canadian Primary Care Community of Practice evolved out of early work done in the Province of Ontario, lead by the Alzheimer Knowledge Exchange, with a group of primary care leaders interested in dementia care. These Ontario practitioners began to share their dementia care practices, innovations, resources, procedures, policies, and anything else related to dementia care that would help to leverage their collective wisdom and knowledge to improve quality of care and quality of life. Since this initial work in Ontario, we have heard of others from across the country, interested in this type of discussion. CDRAKE will be working with the AKE to expand these initial conversations by hosting national discussions both in-person and virtually.

This national community of practice is in the early stages and, if you are a primary care practioner, interested in dementia care, you can still get involved! To indicate your interest in connecting to other leaders of dementia care for inter-provincial knowledge exchange, collaboration and sharing of dementia care practices and resources, contact the knowledge broker.