Creating Partnerships in Dementia Care:

A Changing Melody Toolkit

This 177-page document is a resource guide to help plan and implement forums specifically designed by and for persons with early-stage dementia and their family partners in care, similar to the A Changing Melody forum hosted by MAREP and partners.

Ordering ACM Toolkit

If you are intersted in ordering a copy of the toolkit, please use either the printable order form (cheque payment only) or the online order form (credit card payment only) to place your order now.

**The A Changing Melody toolkit:**

identifies the key principles that should guide the planning of your forum

identifies the need for full partnership with persons with dementia and provides practical suggestions for enabling these relationships

provides suggestions on how to assemble a planning committee

provides examples of forum topics and themes relevant to persons with dementia

offers practical logistical advice for planning your forum

provides examples of ways to incorporate the arts and other creative showcases to highlight accomplishments and continued abilities of persons with dementia and connect with the emotional side of the dementia journey

provides ways to advertise and market your forum

identifies a number of potential challenges that planning committees may face and offers practical solutions to address these challenges

identifies the personal and potential societal impacts of forums designed specifically for persons with dementia and their partners in care based on a number of years of systematic research

provides helpful resources for planning your forum including templates for forum posters, brochures and manuals, and a forum timeline and comprehensive checklist to ensure that your committee remains on-track during the planning process

This webpage has been designed to provide support to those who are interested in organizing and implementing a forum such as A Changing Melody, by providing documents that you can download, and an access point to our online community created specifically for the purpose of keeping interested parties connected throughout the planning process.

Online Community Information

E-Forum Information

MAREP, in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Canada, has created an online forum where you can ask your questions and get advice, provide feedback on the toolkit, and share stories. You can access this e-forum from at http://www.alzheimer.ca/MAREPforum/

MAREP would be happy to answer your questions so please use the e-forum to ask your questions and share information with others as you plan your event.

Supporting Documents

ACM Post-Forum Evaluations

Since 2002, MAREP has been systematically evaluating the forum and its process. We have included for you here a sample of the pre and post-forum evaluations.

Pre-forum questionnaire

Post-forum questionnaire

We have also included for you the evaluation results.

Evaluation results 2004

Evaluation results 2005

Evaluation results 2006

Evaluation results 2007

Evaluation results 2008

Finally, we are providing you with a summary of the comment card collected at each forum.

Comment and ideas card summary 2005

Comment and ideas card summary 2006

Comment and ideas card summary 2007

Comment and ideas card summary 2008

Forum Proceeding Manuals

To date, MAREP and partners have hosted five A Chaning Melody events. Below are samples of four proceedings manuals.

2004 Forum - Giving Voices to People Living With Dementia (Forum Proceedings)

2005 Forum - Taking Control of our Lives (Forum proceedings)

2006 Forum - Fighting Together to Win (Forum proceedings)

2007 Forum - Forging Ahead with Courage and Hope (Forum proceedings)

2008 Forum - Joining Forces: Building Supportive Dementia Communities (Forum proceedings)

Partnership Agreement

Here is a sample partnership agreement that can be useful when forming your planning committee.

Partnership Agreement

Sample Promotional Materials

We are pleased to provide you with a sample of a poster and a brochure that were used to help promote the A Changing Melody forum.

Sample ACM poster

Sample ACM brochure

Sample ACM Promotional Videos

View a short video featuring Brenda Hounam, a person with dementia, speaking about the A Changing Melody Forum.

View a short video featuring Carl Wilson and Elaine Smith, speaking about the A Changing Melody Forum.

View a short video featuring Elaine Smith, a person with dementia, speaking about the A Changing Melody Forum.

Sponsorship Materials

Sponsorship Package - Here is a sample sponsorship package that will help if you are seeking financial support of your event. Sources of funding include pharmaceutical companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, airlines, for profit nursing homes, other organizations with an interest in health and well-being.

Graphics

A Changing Melody branding logo - the A Changing Melody logo is available for your marketing and promotional purposes. Please contact MAREP at loiselle@uwaterloo.ca to request a high quality graphic file.

A Changing Melody Toolkit Resources