The DEER Program

Dementia Conversations creates space for honest, respectful dialogue about living with dementia.

These facilitated conversations bring together people living with dementia, care partners, and community members to share experiences, reflect together, and learn from one another in a supportive environment.

Rather than focusing on education about dementia, Dementia Conversations centers lived experience, listening, and connection. The goal is not to provide answers or advice, but to foster understanding, reduce isolation, and build empathy through shared conversation.

If you are looking for a space grounded in respect, curiosity, and community, Dementia Conversations offers an opportunity to listen deeply and engage meaningfully.

More information and registration at https://DEERprogram.org/Dementia-Conversations

Our next free, online Dementia Friends Information Session is on Wednesday, June 17th!

Join to learn about dementia and discover simple, practical ways to support people living with dementia in your community.

More information at https://DEERprogram.org/Dementia-Friends

In a recent episode of Elevate Eldercare, DEER Program Director, Jennifer Carson, PhD, joins with Al Power, MD to examine some of the most entrenched and damaging practices in dementia care and what can be done to eliminate them.

Drawing from clinical experience, research, and personal care partnership journeys, they unpack how the overuse of antipsychotics often mask deeper systemic failures, from under-resourced environments to inadequate training. Dr. Carson highlights the serious risks, including increased mortality, while Dr. Power calls for a fundamental reframing of dementia away from "managing behaviors" and toward supporting well-being, inclusion, and human rights.

Together, they advocate for relationship-centered care, stronger enforcement of existing protections, and practical tools to help organizations assess and create conditions for optimal living.

Their conversation also previews their forthcoming book on dementia inclusion, aimed at offering actionable pathways for real system change, including a call for non-segregated and unlocked dementia care communities.

This episode is both a critique of the status quo and a hopeful call to redesign dementia care around dignity, equity, and true support.

Listen at https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Vtcbm2t2Dr63T6CZhgb1a