Worldwide, over 55 million people live with dementia. By 2030, that number is expected to rise to over 150 million, including nearly one million Canadians. Here at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), we are committed to defying dementia, and this mission is echoed by many other individuals and organizations during World Alzheimer’s Month.
In honour of World Alzheimer’s Month, Dr. Allison Sekuler and Dr. Rosanne Aleong – cohosts of CABHI’s Community of Innovation podcast – speak with three guests about dementia prevention, detection, and care. By the end of the episode, you will have tangible takeaways from each guest on how to reduce your dementia risk and support those in your life affected by dementia.
Our first guest, Sylvia Ciechanowski, is an audiologist at Baycrest Hearing Services who shares how taking care of one’s hearing can help prevent dementia.
We then hear from Dr. Larissa McKetton – Director of Scientific and Clinical Development at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, Scientific Associate with the Rotman Research Institute, and strategic advisor with CABHI’s Leap Community – who discusses how Cogniciti’s Brain Health Assessment can support with dementia detection.
Our final guest is Dr. Anthony Levinson, who in addition to being a member of the GERAS Centre for Aging Research at Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University’s Director of the Division of e-Learning Innovation, and the John R. Evans Chair in Health Sciences Educational Research and Instructional Development, is the co-developer DementiaRisk.ca and the CABHI-supported iGeriCare.ca – two free online educational tools to help people decrease dementia risk and care for loved ones living with dementia.
Tune into the episode now to learn how you can take control of your brain health this World Alzheimer’s Month.
Episode Resources
Learn More about our Guests
Sylvia Ciechanowski is an audiologist at Baycrest Hearing Services, currently working on her clinical doctorate (AuD) with an anticipated completion date of December 2024. Sylvia holds a Master’s of Science in Audiology from Dalhousie University located in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science from University of Guelph. Sylvia is affiliated with the University of Toronto, appointed as Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Speech Language Pathology. Growing up around a family member with hearing loss, she knows firsthand the impact it can have on daily life and everyone around you.
Sylvia’s professional background includes working in private and public hearing health care, as well as experience working at a major hearing aid manufacturer. Sylvia also participated in the College of Audiologists & Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO) Advertising Advisory Group to develop new advertising standards for audiologists and speech-language pathologists in Ontario.
Sylvia was recently awarded the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) Spark grant for the project ‘Check Your Hearing, Change Your Life!’, aiming to integrate online hearing screenings within various partner programs at Baycrest. Driven by her passion to help others, she takes pride in providing patient-centered care and tailoring treatment plans for each patient. Sylvia is passionate about accessibility and inclusion. She works part time as a live captioner, making live content instantly accessible in real time for live events and students. Her desire to help people hear led her to join the Hear the World Foundation and travel to Haiti to help fit hearing aids at the Haiti Deaf Academy and in the community.
Dr. Larissa McKetton holds an MSc, PhD and Postdoctorate in clinical neuroscience, complemented by extensive experience collaborating with industry leaders, academia, and start-ups across biology, wellness, brain health, technology and innovation sectors. She serves as the Director of Scientific and Clinical Development at the Baycrest Academy of Research and Education, and as a Scientific Associate with the Rotman Research Institute. Additionally, she acts as a strategic advisor with the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)’s Leap Community, fostering co-designed solutions and community engagement for older adults. With over 32 peer reviewed publications, Dr. McKetton also serves as Scientific Advisor on several boards and is the chief editor of the Cogniciti monthly brain health newsletter. One of her greatest passions is with community engagement and education on dementia prevention and healthy lifestyle living and has developed and taught several programs through CABHI’s Leap platform including the ‘Brain Talk’ and ‘Mindset Shift’ webinar series for older adults.
Dr. Anthony Levinson is a psychiatrist and member of the GERAS Centre for Aging Research at Hamilton Health Sciences, and he’s also McMaster University’s Director of the Division of e-Learning Innovation, and the John R. Evans Chair in Health Sciences Educational Research and Instructional Development. He is also the co-developer of the iGeriCare.ca web-based dementia care partner education platform and DementiaRisk.ca site to help promote brain health. His area of research is technology-enhanced teaching and learning, studying how to use various web technologies and apps to improve health education for health professional learners and the public. Dr. Levinson maintains an active clinical practice in consultation-liaison psychiatry with a special interest in complex neuropsychiatric disorders and mental health issues among the medically ill.
About the Podcast
CABHI’s Community of Innovation podcast is where topics on ingenuity, aging and brain health collide. Join us as we talk to experts in healthcare, research, technology, and business, as well as older adults and their caregivers, about the innovative practices and healthtech solutions helping us all lead longer, healthier lives.
Hosted by Dr. Allison Sekuler (President and Chief Scientist at CABHI) and Dr. Rosanne Aleong (Director of Research, Innovation, and Translation at CABHI).
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