For This I am Grateful: Living with Dementia
In this episode, I interview Christine Thelker, a dementia activist from British Columbia and author of For This I am Grateful: Living with Dementia. Christine’s book evolved from a personal journal to a blog and eventually to a book that was published in June 2020. Christine is 60 years old and has experienced symptoms of dementia arising from cardiovascular disease for 5 years. In our discussion, we explored the themes of gratitude and grief, taking care of yourself, and advocacy. We also talk about Christine’s decision to “go public” with her writing and the close link this decision had, with her becoming involved with dementia advocacy, especially through Dementia Alliance International.
  Christine is also an artist, having designed her own book cover, but did not paint or draw until after being diagnosed. We talked about how through her writing, painting, blogging and speaking,  art contributes to her ability to live with and through her dementia. Our interview is the first in a series that will focus on arts and dementia. The foreword to her book is written by Kate Swaffer, Chairperson of Dementia Alliance International.
You can buy Christine’s book at your local bookseller, Chapters/ indigo, or (dare I say it) Amazon. The ISBN # is 978-1-6457569-9-6. It is published by Austin Macauley. You can also follow Christine’s blog https://www.facebook.com/110344063740906 
MAiD and Bill C-7 - Medical Assistance in Dying
​Bill C-7 proposes certain changes to the legislation on medical assistance in dying. In this episode, Dr. Mariette Brennan, a professor in Constitutional Law and Health Policy at the Bora Laskin Law School, Lakehead University, outlines the origins of this legislation in Canada, the current legislation and the proposed changes in Bill C-7.
When the current law (Bill C-14) was passed in 2016, 3 outstanding issues that remained to be addressed by Parliament, namely mental illness, mature minors and advance directives, were referred to the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) for further study and advice. One of these matters, mental illness, is addressed in BillC-7 but mature minors and advance directives will be further examined by Parliament.
While Bill C-7 excludes mental illness as an eligible disease, it expands eligibility for persons experiencing intolerable suffering but whose death is not foreseeable.  Safeguards are modified by simplifying access in one instance where there is reasonable foreseeable natural death and by adding safeguards with respect to intolerable suffering.
 Our resource page contains many materials and resources on MAiD, which you can access HERE
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