Season 4: Episode 49- Friendship

Lisa Loiselle speaks with Brenda Hounam and Colleen Whyte about friendship and dementia. Brenda was diagnosed with early onset dementia at age 53. She met Lisa in 2002 when they, and others planned the first ever conference by and for people living with dementia – A Changing Melody.  Brenda and Lisa continue to work on many dementia advocacy initiatives and have formed a deep and meaningful relationship. The conversation includes the loss of friendships after a diagnosis, how participants in the study defined friends vs. acquaintances, leisure and how that helps people maintain friendships, how trust plays into relationships, and more. Colleen Whyte is at Brock University. She and her colleagues, Darla Fortune (Concordia) and Rebecca Genoe (Regina) have studied friendship and dementia, published a number of articles, created a website and video vignettes. Brenda and Lisa have been working with them on a set of conversation tools. Resources: https://dementiaandfriendship.ca/ https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-66-the-morning-edition-sask/clip/15928672-university-regina-researcher-studies-maintaining-friendships-dementia-diagnosis