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family caregivers and others) to understand how to support people living
with dementia to participate as much as possible in the decisions that matter
to them. This work will assist health care stakeholders to better respect
both B.C. laws and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities. The work builds on our longstanding interest in supported
decision making as an alternative to substitute decision making.
This project is a collaboration with the Alzheimer Society of B.C., Family
Caregivers BC and the Centre for Research on Personhood in Dementia and
will be our first project to benefit from the leadership provided by the BC
Dementia Advisory Council, which is made up of people living with dementia
and family caregivers of people living with dementia.
A Practical Guide to Elder Abuse and Neglect Law in Canada
In 2011, CCEL published A Practical Guide to Elder Abuse and Neglect Law in
Canada. In 2020, we began to update the guide, thanks to funding from the
Department of Justice Canada. We collaborated with the Canadian Network
for the Prevention of Elder Abuse to host a webinar highlighting key features
of the law across Canada and identifying strategies to support best
practices in responding to concerns about abuse or neglect. In 2021, we look
forward to launching the new and improved guide.
Inclusive Investing: Respecting the Rights of Vulnerable Investors Through
Supported Decision Making
This project examines how vulnerable investors (adults living with intellectual
disabilities, Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia) are using supported
decision making in their lives. We consider how to facilitate
supported decision making during the investment process to maximize an
investor’s access to investment options while minimizing the loss of autonomy
and unnecessary intervention through court-ordered guardianship.
Both formal and informal supported decision making practices in British
Columbia and Ontario are explored.
A volunteer interdisciplinary advisory committee representing adults
with diminished capacity, legal practitioners, community agencies, the
investment industry and relevant regulators supports this project. Our project
partners are the Alzheimer Society of B.C. and Inclusion BC. We also
received support from ARCH Disability Law Centre for outreach and consultation
interviews for the project. Over 90 key informants and stakeholders
were interviewed during the one-year consultation period. The project
advisory committee met in late 2019 to discuss the consultation findings. A
draft review of the report is currently underway and a set of tools will complement
the final report.