I'm sorry for the lack of recent posts.  I'm mired in a major project that does not give me free time, but will return to my usual posting schedule as of next month, I promise!

Sweet Dreams

The upcoming elections seem to be the most entertaining I've seen with regard to Canadian politics in a long time! Mind you, there's the usual hair pulling and mud slinging, but god bless their hearts, Canadian politicians just don't take the same blows below the belt that American politicians do. 

The Moment of Need

I'm terribly sorry I've been a horribly tardy blogger.  Its been a bit of a challenging two months which haven't left me much time to continue the digging to China (or the Health Ministry, whichever comes first) that I meant to do.  I hope to be able to update soon but in the meanwhile I wanted to spread the news about this amazing book that my father gave me.  We discovered it fairly recently, but its been out for a while and the author, Lisa Genova has recently released a new book I haven't read yet.  The name is 'Still Alice' and it really gives such poignant insight into what it feels like to have Alzheimer's Disease from the inside looking out.

The Saga Continues...

And so, leaving no stone uncovered, the saga of the ADTI investigation continues.  After my last post, I had a few heavy questions that still needed answering: 1) why has there been so little publicity around the ADTI considering the potential benefits for those diagnosed with AD? 2) what were the doctors' response? 3) what are the research projects being  designed around this initiative?

The 'Aha' Moment

I know its been a while since I've had a chance to post.  Ok, fine, its been well over six months! However, I coming bearing tepidly good news.  As promised, I did some more digging into The Alzheimer's Disease Therapy Initiative (ADTI) which according to previous Ministry releases was supposed to be wrapped up this year, but was given an extra breath of life.  My timing is indeed impeccable!  

Why does BC not cover drug therapy for Alzheimer's Disease?

What I've found extremely interesting so far is the disparity between coverage of dementia drugs under provincial Pharmacare programs across provinces. 

Welcome

This blog was started through the gentle prodding of my fiancé, who, convinced that the white-coat researcher/writer in me needs a canvas (or at least a clean lab bench) pointed me to this spot. I have a Masters in neuroscience with a focus on Alzheimer's Disease and have worked on many other Seniors' health research issues however I am now foraying into the world of health policy which has been a keen fascination for a while. The Canadian healthcare system offers a particularly excellent petri dish in which to observe the effects of policy implementation contrasted with the burgeoning changes in the US healthcare system.

The goal of this blog will be almost a general, frequently updated literature review on Senior health policy developments, be it in the form of newspaper articles, academic publications or just general grey literature. Since my interest is particularly in the area of Dementia, I will probably focus most of my energy, thoughts and criticisms on it. I am more than open to suggestions and constructive comments, though, be warned, I am new to this whole process (blogging, not lit reviews) so please be patient with any faux pas (which I'm certain will happen, so here's my preemptive apology).