title: Development of supportive services for frontotemporal dementias through community engagement.
abstract: The effect of early onset frontotemporal dementias (FTD) on spouses and children is profound, requiring different types of support services from pre-existing Alzheimer's disease interventions already in place. This article explores how the needs of families living with FTD resulted in three programme initiatives developed at Baycrest (an academic health sciences centre focused on ageing, in Toronto, Canada) to meet the needs of this population. These included an Internet-based videoconferencing support group for spouses, a website that provides support and counsel for children and their parents, and an adult day programme designed for FTD patients. The strength of these interventions is that services were developed with involvement of stakeholders in FTD care from the start, to deal with gaps in services in a sustainable way.
authors.affiliation: Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ashnall@baycrest.org
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shnall
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agate
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grinberg
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huijbregts
authors.forename: Minh-Quan
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Tiffany W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000379:methods; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003631:Day Care, Medical / Q000379:methods; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D049269:Videoconferencing