Home

Public Safety Canada awarded a three-year grant to Dr. Lili Liu, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo and Dr. Antonio Miguel Cruz, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo.   

The Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund (SAR NIF) provided $2,147,140 CAD over three years (April 2021 to March 2024) for this proposal that builds capacities, partnerships and coordination of search and rescue personnel, first responders, and communities to manage risks of going missing among persons living with dementia.   

Partners included first responders (e.g., police, search and rescue, paramedic, and fire departments), Alzheimer Societies and other organizations that support persons living with dementia and care partners, advocacy groups, and policy makers in seven provinces. Key partners also included two Indigenous communities in Quebec and Manitoba. 

Our project at the University of Waterloo focused on managing the risk of going missing among persons living with dementia by building capacities of search and rescue personnel, first responders, and communities. It included four initiatives:​

1. Developing dementia-friendly resources for first responders;
2. Creating a prevention and safety-focused digital toolkit for persons living with dementia and care partners;
3. Establishing a best practice guide for conducting "Return discussions" with persons living with dementia and their circles of support;
4. Analyzing data in police, search and rescue, Medic Alert Foundation Canada, and interRAI dataset to understand missing persons incidents and lost person behaviour specific to persons living with dementia in Canada.

Please visit the Aging and Innovation Research Program website for our other projects focused on acceptance and adoption of innovations for older adults, their care partners, and health care professionals including other projects about dementia and wayfinding.